You like me more than a hamster right?
by NeenaD91
Summary: Following Chi-Chi's tragic death, Bulma swoops in to take care of both Gohan and Goten. And after some time has passed, they're still finding it difficult to adjust. One-Shot, now turned into a mini-series of one-shot drabbles. Some humor included for your reading pleasure.
1. You like me more than a hamster right?

You like me more than a hamster right?

Just a little ol' something that's been dancing in my head. Hope you enjoy

XXX

"Goten catch!"

Tossing a football to his younger brother, the 7 year old demi Saijin, laughed with joy as he flew across the yard to catch the pig skin. He was tackled abruptly however by his lavender-haired best friend, who wrestled him to the ground and used his body as a springboard to jump up and catch the ball.

"Intercepted!" Trunks cried in victory. He threw the ball to the floor and did a little victory dance and Goten, thinking his friend's behavior was hilarious, joined in on the dance party.

Trunks stopped dancing. "Goten," he said. "I stole the ball from _you_ , you have nothing to celebrate. You should be trying to get it back."

Goten stopped and stood up straight. "Oh." Suddenly the ball disappeared out of Trunks' hand and went long across the yard. "Catch Gohan!"

"Hey!"

From a lawn chair near the house Bulma smiled at her three boys. It had been a little over two years since her family grew from a three person house-hold to a five person house-hold. She sighed sadly at how the circumstances came to be but they had come a long way from where they were in the beginning.

Following a devastating accident that took Chi-Chi's life, Bulma swooped in and had taken the Son boys in as her own, promising to raise them as best she could that would do her best friend proud.

In the beginning it was a little difficult. Actually very difficult if she was being honest. Gohan was being eaten alive from the inner turmoil at losing both parents. He was just beginning to surpass the guilt he felt over his father's death when suddenly, his mother passed too.

The young teen replayed over and over in his mind how it happened, how he could of prevented it. If he had just stayed inside that day; if he had just kept a close eye on his brother like he was supposed to, instead of whining about "having space." None of it would have ever happened.

It had taken a lot of coaxing and a lot of therapy to finally get Gohan to a point where he was functional again. He still hadn't fully recovered but aside from his occasional bad days, he was better.

And then there was Goten. Bulma swore sometimes that the young boy didn't quite understand that he was in her care now and not on a perpetual sleepover with Trunks.

Having being raised in the mountains and home schooled by his mother, Goten was sealed off from a lot of traditional normalcies that kids his age would know about. With her second born, Chi-chi was adamant about keeping him away from violence so he was ignorant to things like martial arts, fighting, training, guns, and anything that would trigger his natural born instinct to fight.

But that unfortunate teaching left Chi-Chi to pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Her young son didn't know what it meant, when four men barraged into the house with loaded weapons, demanding money out of her. He didn't know what to do when they snatched him by his collar, put a metal barrel to his head and began to hit is mama.

He cried out for her but the men were relentless. He had never seen blood come out of someone before. He had never heard the crack of broken bones. He cried harder when she began to fight back. He knew his mother could fight, Gohan told him all the time but he'd never actually seen her and he was afraid she'd get hurt.

Things began to turn around however. She was able to beat two of the guys off of her and the guy holding him began to get antsy. Goten thought she had a chance, he thought she would win.

But then came the loud ' _pop_ ,' and his mama fell limp to the ground.

Goten didn't know what this meant. Something struck a chord deep within him and he saw blazing gold before he saw white. He remembered crying, screaming and blacking out, and when he came to, Gohan and his mama's friends where there, and the bad people—or what was left of them— were being shuffled out in body bags.

Everyone kept quiet about what happened to Chi-Chi for a while around him. No one could muster up the courage to quite tell him that she was gone. Bulma had tried on many occasions but she was too overwhelmed by her own grief that she couldn't find it in her heart to break his own.

When the day of Chi-Chi's funeral came she finally sat him down to explain to him what was going on. He was confused at first; he didn't understand what death meant. He knew that his father was dead but he had never met him so he thought people who were dead never got a chance to walk the Earth.

Taking him to his mother's casket Bulma found was a grave mistake. She thought it would help explain things to him but in hind sight, she should have known it was a terrible idea. The young boy completely lost it.

He was screaming and thrashing, crying desperately at his mother to wake up and she wouldn't. Completely heartbroken he was crashing around the room, destroying all the sympathy flowers, windows and pews of the church. It had taken Vegeta three tries to stop the monstrosity before he finally blew a swift chop to the back of the boys head, knocking him out cold.

He spent the rest of the funeral asleep in Vegeta's arms and the next 10 months, attached to Bulma like glue.

Bulma had to take a pretty long leave of absence from work to get Goten and Gohan to adjust to their new home at Capsule Corp. Goten had a perpetual fear of losing his care takers so he spent his days a nights attached to the hip of mostly Bulma, but when he was able to, he latched onto his brother or Vegeta. Bulma spent many days with him, watching him eat, play, lounge and even shower. And at night she spent many nights on a fold out cot in his room, easing him to sleep with her presence alone.

Just like Gohan, it had taken a lot of coaxing and a lot of therapy until the young boy was finally comfortable enough to be alone but he still never ventured far from his primary care-takers.

Now, over two years later, her growing boys were adjusting well to their new living situation and she could only hope she was doing them just as well.

She was after all, doing the best she could. Along with her own son, and her husband, things could get hairy with 4 Saijins under one roof but they made it work.

"Boys!" Bulma called from her spot on the lawn chair. She stood up and shielded her eyes to look at all three boys floating in air. "Who wants to hit the pool?"

"Me!" They all shouted at once, ditching the football and taking off in the direction of the lavish Capsule Corp pool.

Unfortunately for Vegeta, he chose the wrong time to exit the gravity room as a ditched pigskin was a dangerous pigskin and it hit him smack dab in the middle of the face.

He growled and the boys laughed. "Sorry dad!" Trunks called behind him.

XXX

The pool was full of excitement for the afternoon and after dinner it was time to wind down. School would be starting soon and Bulma was adamant about getting the boys to bed a little earlier each night to make the adjustment easier.

After full tummies and a warm shower, the boys each retreated to their rooms, while Bulma and Vegeta—to have a little time and space to themselves—downstairs.

Feeling lonely Goten wondered to his best friends' room to catch a few more hours of play time before bed.

"Hey Trunks, whatcha doing?" Goten wondered in the young Prince's room and found him sitting at his desk scribbling furiously at something under the desk light.

"Sketching something…" Trunks replied, obviously side tracked from his manic scribbling.

Goten pulled up a chair. "What is it? Is it a coloring book?"

Trunks gave his friend a pathetic look and scoffed. "No way, coloring books are so elementary." Goten blinked. "I'm sketching a model of a high tech spit ball machine. That way, when we get back to school, we can totally nail the principal and he'll never catch us!"

Goten laughed. "Wow, real cool Trunks! But uhh….how are you gonna get the machine off the paper? Won't it just turn into its own spit ball?"

Trunks sighed. "The sketch is just a drawing of what it will look like genius. When my mom is out of the lab I'm going to sneak in there and actually build it."

"Ohhhh, well you better be careful, last time Mommy Bulma caught us in the lab she made Vegeta give us 20 lashes."

Trunks nodded. "Yeah, my butt still hurts from that," he rubbed his own backside at the memory.

"So Trunks, can I help?"

"Uhhhhhh…I don't know Goten, this might be a little…much for you. Plus I'm almost done."

Goten hopped down from his chair. "Well do you wanna play race cars then?"

"Not really," Trunks got back to drawing. "Why don't you read a book or something. Mom's gonna be up soon after her show is finished to tell us to go to bed anyway."

Goten looked around his best friend's scattered room. There were of course of plethora of toys to choose from so he could play, but his friend was right, it was almost bed time and he was fond of a good story before bed.

He plucked a book from Trunk's bookshelf and thumbed through it.

Huh. No pictures.

Discarding it on the floor, Goten picked up another and did the same, disappointed to find yet again, there were no pictures.

"Hey Trunks," he asked, continuing to pull through the books on Trunk's shelf, searching for one with pictures inside.

"Yeah?"

"Something's wrong with all your books."

Trunks didn't look up from his sketch. "What do you mean?"

"Well…there's no pictures inside." Disappointed yet again, Goten discarded another book to the floor.

Finally Trunks looked up from his masterpiece to see the disaster his friend had created in his room. "Goten!" Trunks leapt from his seat and snatched the book currently in Goten's hand before it hit the floor. "Look what you did, you made a mess!" Trunks had spent the previous morning cleaning his room so it was spick and span under his father's order. Vegeta hadn't come back for a follow up visit but if he walked in right now he knew it'd be trouble.

Goten looked around him to find piles of books scattered all over Trunk's bedroom floor. He hadn't realized he was pulling them that fast. "Oh, sorry." He said. "I was looking for a book that had pictures in it so I could read better."

Trunks scoffed beginning to pick up the books. "Don't be such a baby Goten, these are chapter books. They don't have any pictures."

"Oh," the demi-Saijin said, and picked up one of the chapter books from the floor. He opened it to the first page and immediately found words he couldn't encounter. Plus the print was small and the pages were dull and gray. He was somewhat of a beginning reader. Having being schooled at home by Chi-Chi he was just learning the fundamentals of reading and when he moved in with the Briefs he missed quite a bit of school while he dealt with his attachment issues. Now picking up where he left off, the youngest Son boy was nowhere near as advanced as his friend, who could read and interpret Hamlet in under an hour. Goten needed pictures and stimulation to get him going. There was nothing about this book that peaked his interest.

"I don't know if I could read these Trunks."

Frustrated, Trunks sighed a hard sigh and snatched that book from Goten's hand as well. "I was reading these when I was two Goten, you really need to catch up."

"But…"

"Look, why don't you go find something to do in your own room ok?" he began hauling him toward the door.

"But I—"

"I swear sometimes Goten, you could be as dumb as a hamster."

And he slammed the door in the young boys face.

XX

Having sadly retreated to his own room, Goten retrieved his favorite book from his own book shelf, taking it with him as he sat on top of his bed to read it.

It was about a family of bears and he liked it because it reminded him of his own family. There was a mama and a papa and two baby bears, and they lived together in the middle of the forest in a tree house.

Goten paused when he opened the book and a picture of his family tumbled out. It was he, Gohan and his mother, enjoying a picnic on a perfect summer day at Capsule Corp a couple years ago. And behind it was a picture of his father. Goten had never met him but his mother made sure to tape the two pictures together back to back, to remind Goten of the proud lineage he came from.

" _He may not be alive here, but he'll always be alive in here_ ," his mother would say, and she would tap his heart before relishing him with tickles. " _He loves you just as much as I do, my baby boy_."

Goten could feel the tears pricking his eyes and the pang in his heart and suddenly he didn't want to be alone.

He took his book with him and padded the hall down to Gohan's room knocking lightly on the door. "Gohan?"

When there was no answer, he pushed the door ajar and peered inside.

"That's great…yeah…I'd like that too," Gohan laughed. "No, no way I don't think your haircut makes you look like a boy. It's really…cute. Yeah, I like it a lot. Love it even!..But..heh, heh, not love it too much of course. Not if you don't want me too."

Goten sighed. His older brother had been acting strange ever since he went to real school last year. He was always on the phone, talking to girls and getting all fidgety. It was something Goten didn't understand but he was warned by Bulma to give him some space. Apparently teenagers like space. So Goten closed the door and retreated back to his own room.

" _I'll show Trunks_ ," the demi-Sajin thought to himself. " _I'm no hamster, I'm not dumb! I'm smart_!"

He climbed on top of his bed, book in hand, prepared to read it out loud, loud enough for Trunks to hear him. But when he opened up to the first page, he could only see the picture of his family staring back at him. And he could only look at the family of bears and think about how that wasn't his family anymore. And he could only remember how much he missed his mama.

So instead of trying to prove a point, Goten clutched the picture close to him, curled into a ball, and laid down.

XXX

"Are the boys all asleep?" Bulma had just exited the bathroom, shimmying into her baby doll nighty as her husband entered the room.

"Don't get too comfortable in that," Vegeta warned as he closed their bedroom door. "It's coming right off."

Bulma winked. "Yes but first, boys? Sleep?"

"The eldest one is still yammering away on that cell phone you bought him. Hate to break it to you but that wasn't one of your better ideas." Bulma waved him off as she lathered her arms with lotion. "Your son was up to one of his maniacal inventions again and I had to pry him off his computer and tie him down to the bed. And the youngest one wasn't moving when I entered the room so he's either already asleep or he's dead."

Bulma gasped. "Vegeta, don't joke like that," she said. "That's not funny"

Her husband smirked. "Oh lighten up woman, he's asleep. He can't hear us."

"You don't know that, did you check on him?"

"I opened the door, he was lying still on his bed, I shut the light out."

"Did you leave the door open for him?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Woman don't be so dramatic—"

"I'm gonna go check on him" Bulma put down her lotion and made a dash for the door. Goten was adjusting well but he wasn't _that_ well yet. The therapist had warned her of precautions to take to ensure the best transition possible and one of them was allowing him an open means of communication. Easing Goten to cope with his grief was taxing but Bulma was dedicated to the job. She knew his triggers and knew that if he felt trapped in a closed room with the lights off, he'd start to panic, and the last thing she wanted him to do was to regress.

"Bulma," her husband's arm on hers, stopped her from leaving the room. "The boy is fine, he's not dead I promise. I can still feel his ki murmuring."

"It's not that Vegeta, I just need to make sure he's tucked in and he's ok. If the hall light isn't on he gets—"

"Hey listen, I know he's Kakkorot's weakling brat but for Christ's sake, the boy is still Saijin. Stop babying him and let him cope on his own."

"He's only seven Vegeta"

"I was seven when I lost my parents. Look how I turned out"

Bulma's eyes narrowed. "Gee, well aren't you the poster child for well adjustment?"

"What I meant was," he began pointedly. "I had the means to cope with the loss on my own and I'm fine. No one was there to hold my hand. Fortunately the boy has those resources available to him but if you over do it, he'll never know how to handle anything himself in the future."

Bulma simmered in this for a moment.

"He's already asleep, just let him be and we'll see if he can make it till' morning on his own."

Bulma sighed, she wasn't quite sure if she liked this idea. But before she could protest any longer her husband was seizing her neck with his tongue, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

Bulma leaned into him. "You know, I'm beginning to think you're plan has ulterior motives."

Vegeta smirked in the crook of her neck. "Doesn't it always?" he asked. Picking her up with ease he flew them to their over-sized bed until she was settled comfortably below him. Grabbing her chin in his hand, Vegeta now stole her lips for a kiss and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You know what you do to me when you wear blue woman," he growled and Bulma giggled.

"Well considering I had a blue dress on today and you showed your appreciation for that…" she trailed thinking of their 10 minute romp downstairs before she came up to take a shower. "I thought I'd give you a little encore, you know, quench that insatiable appetite of yours."

Her husband grunted in approval and hiked up the hem line of her baby doll so his hands could cop a feel of her bottom. Bulma rolled her hips into his that had suddenly nestled between her thighs. She relished in the attention he was showing her tonight and when she turned her head to whisper in his ear she got the strange sense she was being watched.

Opening her eyes she found she was.

Eyes widening in panic, Bulma shrieked and pushed her husband off of her, which— despite being heavy—did not expect the action from her so he tumbled off the bed and to the floor with a thud.

"Goten!" Bulma cried and quickly pulled down her baby doll and smoothed her hair. "What are you doing here honey? What's wrong?" From the floor Vegeta groaned partly in frustration and partly in agony. He hit his head pretty hard on the wood floor.

Goten meanwhile was standing in front of his adoptive mother, clutching a crumpled picture in one hand and a book in the other that dragged on the floor because of his short stature.

"Baby are you ok?"

He hung his head dejectedly and approached the bed using his leg to prop himself up before he rolled up and over.

"Mommy Bulma," he began quietly. "Do you think I'm dumb?"

Vegeta rejoined his wife on the bed " _Yes_ " he thought but he bit his tongue. He knew if he was a smart Alek he could count on never seeing the underside of that baby doll until days from now.

"No baby," Bulma said, cupping the young demi's cheeks. "You're the brightest little boy."

Goten was still looking down and tears began to pool in his eyes, splashing on Bulma's hands and hitting the sheets. "And you like me….you like me more than a hamster right? You wouldn't trade me for one?"

When he finally looked up at her Bulma saw all the hurt and pain in his eyes and it took everything inside her not to brake with him.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh," she cooed, opening up her arms and he crawled right in. He was short in stature and small in every sense of the word so when he curled into a ball he fit right in her lap like he was always meant to be there.

Vegeta sighed and stared up at the ceiling from his spot in the bed. Well, he guessed his time with his wife was up for tonight.

"Of course I like you more than a hamster honey. I don't even like hamsters," she said. Goten sniffled in her chest, letting his tears flow freely. "I love you like my very own son. Remember what we talked about? I adopted you and Gohan so you can stay with me and Vegeta. We're your adoptive mommy and daddy and you're our son."

Goten mumbled and buried his face further into her chest. Vegeta quirked an eyebrow and huffed that the runt was getting further with his wife than he was. " _Damned brat_ "

"Honey," Bulma picked up his face by cupping his cheeks. "Where would you even get an idea that we would trade you for a hamster?"

He looked into her eyes, wanting to tell her the truth but he didn't want to get his best friend in trouble.

Bulma signed. "I guess I have a pretty good idea," she made a mental note to talk to Trunks later.

"I know I can't read chapter books, and I'm not as strong as Trunks or Gohan, but I promise I'm trying really hard and if you keep me, I'll do better in training with Vegeta and I'll study really hard like Gohan."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down honey, slow down." She turned him around in her lap so she could cradle him and embrace him in a hug. "You're not going _anywhere_ ok? Your home is here now, and I promise to take the best care of you. Chapter books or not"

Goten looked up at her, tears coming to a halt and she winked at him, kissing him on his forehead. Finally, a smile broke on his chibi face and he nestled back into Bulma's arms, letting his tiny hands rest atop of hers. He knew coming here would make him feel better, despite what anyone said about him.

Bulma let her cheek rest atop his head and embraced him once more before she noticed what he brought with him in the room.

"What's this?" she asked, picking up the crumpled family photo he had and she sighed when she saw the picture. She remembered taking it herself. It amazed her how much has changed since then.

"I miss my mama," Goten suddenly said. Bulma guessed he was looking at the picture too.

"I do too honey," she agreed. Goten took the picture from her hands and flipped it over so it was showing his father. "Mama told me that because Papa wasn't here, he lives in here," he pointed to his heart. "But what about mama now? Is there room for her too?"

"Of course there is. There's room for her and your dad and Gohan, and Trunks and me and Vegeta, and everyone who loves you honey. You have the biggest heart," she squeezed his little belly and Goten relished in her embrace.

"Did you know my papa?" he asked.

Bulma sighed at the memory of her fallen friend. "Yeah, I did. I've known him for a long time. He was kind, and caring, and gentle. And very handsome just like you," she ticked him this time and Goten giggled.

Vegeta had since turned on the TV but he still had an eye on the two, and when his wife mentioned Kakkarot being "handsome" he quirked another eyebrow at her. He knew the man was dead but….Vegeta wasn't exactly chop liver, which he felt like at the moment.

From his spot in her arms, Goten reached out and grabbed the book he had brought with him on the bed. "This is my favorite book," he said. "Mama used to read it to me before bed."

Bulma took the book from his hands. "Well, I may not be able to read it as good as your mama, but I can give it a shot right?" she asked. "Would you like me to read it to you?"

Gotten nodded in excitement and she cracked the book open to the first page. "Oh," he began twiddling his two thumbs together. "And sometimes, she would let me have chocolate milk and cookies while she read it."

Bulma laughed. She _highly_ doubted Chi-Chi would load her son up with sweets right before bed, if at all, but for the night, she'd let it slide.

XX

A few minutes later after the bots brought up three tall glasses of chocolate milk and a plate of cookies, Bulma read to the young chibi in her lap, who laughed at all his favorite parts and turned each page excitedly, ready to hear the story as if it was brand new.

"And then the papa bear said, _Where is my porridge? Did you boys eat my porridge_?"

Goten laughed again. "That's not how the papa bear sounds!"

Bulma giggled. "Sorry but my papa bear needs a little work. Maybe we should ask a real papa bear," she winked at him and motioned to Vegeta who had turned his back to them so he was facing the TV, almost asleep by now.

Goten nodded excitedly before crawling out her lap and pouncing on Vegeta. The Saijin Prince groaned. What now?

"Vegeta, do the papa bear," Goten demanded. He groaned again and shrugged the kid off of him but he only crawled right back on. "The papa bear Vegeta, do the papa bear!"

Vegeta pulled his pillow over his head and Goten removed it. Now the Prince glared.

Bulma giggled.

"If I do this _papa bear_ , will you leave me alone?"

"Yes," the child nodded simply.

Vegeta sighed a long hard sigh. " _What has my life become_?" he thought. " _Where is my porridge_?" he said aloud as lamely as he could. " _Did you boys eat all my porridge_?"

Goten fell back on the bed with laughter and Bulma joined him. Vegeta meanwhile grumbled and threw the sheets over himself and tried to get some sleep. He'd see who was laughing once dawn came.

XX

Half an hour later with a belly full of cookies and milk and the story finished, Goten was sound asleep in Bulma and Vegeta's bed. He slept on his belly with his arms splayed out over his head, and soft breaths puffed from his mouth indicating his was calm and comfortable.

Bulma continued to rub his back as she did when he was falling asleep and smiled down at the young boy. He was a spitting image of his father, right down to the flaming hair. And he had all the graciousness and tenderness of his mother.

A tear pricked Bulma's eye when she thought of the loss of her friend and she wiped it away. She hadn't agreed to be the boys God parent for no reason. As much as the boys' wonderful qualities reminded her of her two fallen friends, she wanted to make sure they never lost the makings about them.

Looking up at her husband, Bulma was just about to address him when there was a knock at her door.

She looked up. "Come in."

Spikey hair and big black orbs, popped its way into the door way until Bulma gave him a reassuring smile and Gohan fully entered the room.

He bashfully put an arm behind his head. "Oh hey Bulma, I was just looking for Goten. I went in his room to check up on him and I didn't see him there so I just wanted to make sure he's ok."

"He's fine," he smiled, propping herself up in the bed. "Are you ok sweetie?"

"Who me? Yeah, I'm great…just…I'm fine."

Bulma eyed him suspiciously before opening up her arms again and the teen boy feel into them to accept her embrace.

"I love you guys so much," she squeezed him tight. "Both of you. Whenever you guys need me I'm here ok? No matter how busy I am or what I'm up to, I'll always stop for you."

From his side of the bed Vegeta internally groaned. He hoped the two of them didn't make a habit of this.

"Well thanks Bulma but you won't have to for much longer," Gohan said.

Bulma's head perked to the side. "What are you talking about Gohan?"

"Well, I'm going to be eighteen soon," he answered. "And I can't impose forever."

"Yes, please. Keep that ambition up so my son gets the same idea," Vegeta suddenly spoke. "When you're of age, you're out this house." Bulma whacked him on the arm and looked at Gohan to continue.

Gohan sighed. "Plus I've been applying to a lot of colleges. I've been hoping to get into this architectural school abroad but it's kind of far from here. And with tuition cost and living expenses for me and him," the teen pointed at his younger sleeping brother. "I'm not sure all the money I've been saving will cover it."

Bulma shook her head. "No, Gohan, Goten can stay here. Goten will stay here," she corrected. "And you boys are not imposing. Far from it. I promised your mother should anything happen I would take care of you both. And I intend to keep that promise."

"Yeah but Bulma—

"No, you go off to any school you desire. You've been working hard all your life hun. You deserve it."

Gohan sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Yeah but I can't leave him," he admitted. "He needs me; I'm all he has left now."

"Gohan, Goten has me, Vegeta, Trunks, Krillen, Tien, Yamcha…all of us are here for him and we'll take care of him. We love him just like he's ours. And Goten knows that no matter what you're here for him too."

Gohan smiled a small smile. It took him a long time to be able to accept and live with the guilt from the death of his parents. And the last thing he wanted was to leave his brother with that same guilt if he was gone.

But as he watched him sound asleep next to Bulma, just as he had been with his own mother, something told Gohan that his little brother would be ok.

He gave Bulma another hug. "Thanks Bulma"

"Of course honey. And hey, don't worry about tuition costs ok? Where ever you want to go I've got it covered. They don't call me Briefs for nothing," she winked at him.

Gohan smiled again. "Do you want me to take him back to his room?" he opened his arms to receive the sleeping child. "Sorry if he bugged you and Vegeta."

"Yes," Vegeta answered for her and Bulma whacked him again.

As she watched him sleep, Bulma brushed some hair out of his face and he yawned. It had been awhile since she was able to coddle a child as much as she coddled Goten. As soon as Trunks could walk, he shied away from his mother's attention and began asserting his own independence. And when he hit five, forget it. Suddenly Bulma was the most uncool person on the planet.

But Goten latched onto her the moment he's walked through those doors and he never let go. He needed her and Bulma had to admit, it was nice to be needed again. She wasn't quite done snuggling him yet for the night.

"No," she finally said and she continued to rub his back before she picked him up in her arms so she could rock him. "He's ok here, I've got him."

Gohan nodded before something on the nightstand caught his eye. "Say…uhhh is that chocolate milk?" he asked.

Bulma chuckled. He was just like his father. "Go ahead sweetie,"

With her permission the teenaged boy grabbed a glass and swiped a few cookies off the plate before sitting on the floor and watching TV. He took his time to enjoy the sweets rather than devour them in one bite, and he enjoyed having Bulma and Vegeta for company as well.

Suddenly, their bedroom door swung open before they could enjoy the moment's peace and Trunks stood at the entrance, mouth agape at what he saw.

"What's this?" he asked before wondering into the room. "Dad says I'm not allowed to spend the night in your room cause' it's for weakling brat sissies but now there's a party in here?" Much like Goten, he used his leg to get a footing on the high bed before rolling himself on. "And cookies too? How come I never get cookies?—Oof!" Using his foot, Vegeta nudged his son off the bed.

Trunks huffed and hoisted himself back on, glaring at his father who meanwhile chuckled. "Shut up brat. You sound spoiled as all hell. Prince's aren't spoiled." He said.

"Well this one certainly isn't," Trunks retorted. "Mom," he whined. "I know I haven't been through anything _traumatic_ but ever since Goten and Gohan moved in, I've been feeling a little neglected."

Bulma glared as she rocked one of the boys in question. "Trunks Vegeta Briefs"

Trunks looked at her dumbfounded. "What did I do now?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Where on Earth would Goten get the idea that he was a hamster?"

Trunks looked around the room for an excuse. "Uhhhh I don't know"

"Trunks," his mother warned.

"Ok, ok, so I maayyyyy have told him that he was kinda dumb….kinda like a hamster. But I didn't mean it."

"Trunks!"

The lavender hair boy huffed. "Well he was in my room, touching all my things and messing them up. And I was frustrated. All he wanted was to read a stupid book but he couldn't so he made a mess in my room."

"Your room is always messy, what's the difference?" Vegeta asked.

"I cleaned it up this time!" his son exclaimed.

Vegeta snorted. "Yeah right," like he'd fall for that old trick.

"Trunks," Bulma redirected his attention.

The Demi sighed. "I know, I know, Goten has been through a lot and I have to be nice to him."

"No," his mother said. "You are an extremely intelligent boy…and a hot head." He frowned at the later part of her comment. "Not everyone is up to speed with you honey but you have to appreciate others for their differences and show them kindness and respect anyway."

Trunks looked down at the book that Bulma was reading to Goten. He used to like that book too. He supposed it wouldn't be too bad, showing his friend how to graduate to chapter books instead of teasing him for his baby books.

"Fine," he finally bit out. "I'm sorry for calling Goten a dumb hamster."

"Good, you can apologize officially in the morning." Trunks shrugged. "And, don't think I don't know what you're up to with those drawings of yours," she continued. "If I catch you in my lab again I'll chop off all your fingers one by one."

He son suddenly paled and gulped; hard. Vegeta chuckled proudly. He knew he married her for a good reason.

"Sooooo since you've forgiven me and we've established that I'm your favorite child again uhhhhh," he looked at the nightstand and grinned "Is that chocolate milk?"

Bulma rolled her eyes and Gohan handed the boy the last glass of milk and the remaining cookies without question. Trunks gobbled them up with one swoop.

"Ahhhh," he fell back on the bed between his parents and rested his arms behind his head, just like his father. "This is the life, I'm telling ya,"

Out of nowhere, a kiss planted itself between his eyes. "Gah! Mom! Gross. What'd you do that for?"

Bulma smiled. "To remind you you're not neglected. And that I love you very much."

"More than Goten and Gohan?"

"I love you all the same."

Trunks sighed. "I guess I'll have to take it," He grumbled.

"I've been," Vegeta responded. "Ever since you entered this world."

Bulma giggled and it wasn't long before stillness came over the room and all of her boys were sound asleep. Goten in her arms, Trunks snuggled between her and Vegeta and Gohan at the foot of the bed. And when she herself finally fell asleep, she couldn't be happier knowing that she was their mama.

XXXX

End!

I've been thinking about doing a little series of one-shots around this. Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more.


	2. The 'u' in Misery

The Social Worker

Asketh and you shall receiveth ;)

Forgot to mention in the first chapter, I own absolutely nothing but the creative voices in my head. Enjoy!

XXX

 _1 year post move in to Capsule Corp_

"Boys! Dinner!"

Like a stampede of elephants herding to a water hole, 3 hungry demi-Saijins bolted to the dining room for food, just as Bulma set the last plate down.

"Watch where you're going you brats!" Vegeta called grumpily after them, having been shoved out the way so they could reach the table first.

"Sorry Vegeta!" Gohan was the first to call out.

"Yeah, sorry Mr. Vegeta!" Goten was next.

"Ha! Gotcha dad!"

The boys reached the table in record speed and began to devour the foothills of food in front of them like they've never seen food before. It was a marvelous spread, steak, pasta, chicken, rice, sushi, all the carbs and proteins any Saijin could ever ask for.

Used to their behavior, Bulma calmly began to scoop out a normal helping of food for herself, before taking her seat and attempting—yet again— for normal family table talk.

"So, boys," she began. "How was school?"

After some home-schooling following the Son boys moving in, she had finally managed to enroll them in a top of the line private school in Orange City. This week completed their second week of enrollment and so far Gohan seemed to be thriving but she wasn't exactly sure if Goten liked it too much.

"School was great!" Gohan said after swallowing a heaping helping of noodles. "I actually got picked to play baseball this time and my team won." He recounted. "Thanks for having Yamcha show me how to throw a ball again Bulma."

Bulma smiled and her husband entered the dining room, towel around his neck, fresh from training.

Vegeta scoffed. "Don't tell me among all the things your idiot father never showed you, throwing a ball was one of them."

Gohan swallowed another helping of pasta. "Well yeah, we used to play catch all the time. But it's kind of hard throwing well…..slow. My classmates obviously aren't up to par with Saijin strength so I have to throw like them so I fit in."

Vegeta scoffed again. "You're a Saijin boy and you should be proud, even if you are third class," he grumbled the last part. "If your school mates can't handle your strength, they should get off the field."

"Orrrrr," Bulma began. "You can continue to do such a wonderful job honey," she said as she gave her husband a pointed look. Vegeta shrugged and began to eat. "I'm happy that you had fun today."

Gohan smiled then dug in his food again.

"Trunks," Bulma started again. "Would you like to tell your father how school was today?"

"Uhhhhh," Trunks filled his mouth with chicken so he wouldn't have to speak. "Well, I uhhh aced my test."

"He hit his teacher again," Bulma answered for him. "This time during gym class."

Vegeta rolled his eyes while eating. "Well if they can't catch him doing it on camera it's like it never happened." He offered.

Trunks nodded in agreement.

"Except they did catch him this time, because it was _during_ gym class"

Having now caught what his wife said for the second time, Vegeta stopped eating and glared at his son who shrouded behind his food.

"What?"

Because he was so far advanced than the other children, Trunks had a knack for causing trouble in school when he was bored. Since his time at Orange Star Preparatory School for the Young Scholar, he has since slapped his teacher in the back of the head, launched spitballs during his lesson, flew down the hallways and opened all the lockers, put cherry bombs in the girls bathroom and damaged the sewer line, reset the sprinklers so the class was sprayed during their outdoor photos and left a plate full of chocolate super lax brownies in the teacher's lounge resulting in a school-wide dismissal because all the teachers simultaneously had to take sick leave.

And now his latest feat, pelting his teacher with a dodge ball during gym class because…well honestly because he thought it was funny.

Vegeta didn't necessarily mind his son's antics because they could never actually catch him doing it and while he knew his son well enough to know he was behind it, he was actually kind of proud at the boys speed. It meant his time in training was paying off.

Bulma however, having to throw hundreds of thousands of dollars to the school in donations just to keep her son enrolled was about to pull every last strand of her hair out if she got another phone call from the dean at 1:30 in the afternoon, demanding she pick up her monstrosity and bring him home.

"Whattttt?" Trunks began to defend. "It is called _dodgeball_ after all. And I didn't hurt him too bad; he only got a sprained ankle."

"Trunks, we've been over this," Bulma sounded tired and defeated. She'd apparently been through this speech a thousand times before. "You are _not_ , to put your hands on _anyone_. Especially adults in charge."

"I didn't. I threw a—"

"Or inanimate objects!" Bulma quickly added.

Trunks huffed. "Well it's not like I got in any real trouble. You only knew about it cause' that big mouth lady at the car pick up couldn't keep her mouth shut."

"You mean the Dean?" Bulma corrected.

Trunks nodded. "She's totally after me mom."

"Rightfully so," his father chimed in.

"It's not fair," he complained. "She didn't even tell you about Goten's demerit today. No, it's alllll Trunks, allll the time."

Suddenly Bulma snapped toward the youngest Son boy, who was quietly enjoying his supper until now.

He frowned at his best friend through his noodles. "Trunnnkkkksss!" he whined.

"Demerit?" Bulma asked. "What for? Goten, what happened honey?"

"Nothing," he said shyly in his food.

"He pushed someone," Trunks answered for him and Goten never wanted so badly than to push his best friend from his seat.

Bulma's eyes widened in surprise at what she heard. Goten hadn't been having the easiest time moving to regular school. He spent most of his days quietly to himself and he didn't brighten up until he saw Trunks at recess or until it was time to go home. She didn't know what would make him angry enough to push someone else; he was for the most part, a gentle little lamb.

Having heard what his brother did, Gohan stopped eating to look at him too. "Little brother," he said disapprovingly. "Mom taught us better than that. You know you're not supposed to hit."

Goten mumbled, fighting with his inner conscious. "I'm sorry Gohan, I didn't mean it but that boy was calling me names on the playground."

"It doesn't matter what anyone calls you Goten," his brother said. "You have to be bigger than them and walk away. Especially knowing that you're much stronger than the other kids and you can really hurt them."

"He called me a sissy fat boy and said my mama left me because she couldn't afford to feed me." Goten blurted.

Bulma gasped and Gohan choked on his food, while Trunks held back a snort and Vegeta smirked. The Saijin Prince had to admit, despite being a weak human race, some of them had quite a bit of smart things to say to make up for their physical weaknesses.

"Your brother is right," Vegeta chimed in. "You shouldn't have pushed him, you should have punched him in the gut and ripped out his digestive track through his belly button."

"Vegeta, we are not encouraging this!" Bulma argued.

"I'm not encouraging anything. That little snot was talking shit about the runt's dead mother, he deserves to bleed."

Goten hung his head in shame. "I said I was sorry, but the teacher thought I did it on purpose because when I pushed him, he fell in an ant pile and got bitten."

Trunks chuckled. "Yeah, that was awesome. I've never seen Big Timmy cry like that."

Bulma sighed. She couldn't believe the school kept her in the dark about this. Probably because her own son was such a menace that whatever Goten did frowned in comparison. Either way, it was no shock to her why none of the other moms wanted her on the PTA.

"I'll talk to the teacher on Monday honey," Bulma offered. "Meanwhile, I think you should write a letter of apology to Timmy hmm?"

"Yes Mommy Bulma."

"Which reminds me…." Bulma began, suddenly remembering why she started this conversation in the first place. "Social services is coming back for their final visit on Sunday so I need you all to be on your best behavior ok?"

It had been a long and winding road to legally adopt the boys but it was finally coming to an end. There were a lot of unusual questions Bulma had to answer, which wasn't particularly easy considering the boys she was trying to adopt were half bread aliens who used to live in the middle of nowhere; Goten didn't even have a social security number. Combine that with the home visits with her own alien husband well…Bulma was just happy that this was all coming to an end.

One more visit from the social worker and a final stamp on their paperwork meant that the boys were finally hers.

"That old guy mom?" Trunks began. "That guy was eighty, eighty years ago. I flew right in front of him and he had no idea what was going on."

Bulma sighed. "Yes well Mr. Springsteen has retired now and they've given our case to a new social worker who I hear is quite the…well..stickler. So we need to make sure we're _all_ on our best bet behavior," she gave a pointed look to her husband. "And, acting like _normal humans_." Now she looked at Trunks. "Just until the social worker is gone."

"Does this mean we have to wear our Sunday clothes in the house again?" Gohan asked.

Bulma smiled widely. "But you look so handsome in them honey."

XXXX

The next day proved to be just as chaotic as any other Saturday at Capsule Corporation and for a second Bulma began to wonder if it was just her, or if every other mom on the planet went through this insanity.

The day started like any other. Before dawn Vegeta would shake the boys out of bed and hole them up in the gravity room for training. They'd be done around 9 just in time for breakfast, and Bulma wished they'd just sit quietly for a morning, maybe watch a few cartoons but afterward the boys were always wired. She didn't get it, any other child would be wiped until lunch but something about exercise and a full stomach did the opposite for Saijin children so her boys played.

Gohan asked if he could invite some of his new friends from school over and Bulma waved him off with approval, mainly because she was trying to chase down the younger ones.

Goten and Trunks started with a game of tag through the house and after breaking a hall table, vase and bookshelf, Bulma ordered they go and find "something constructive to do."

She should have known better than to utter those words to her son; constructive to him meant anarchy to her so when she padded downstairs to get to work in her lab she found the entry door bolted shut.

"What the…." She hauled on the handle, tugging it once, twice, three times as hard as she could and it wouldn't budge. Taking a second to analyze the mangled handle and the melted crease in the door, it seemed her son thought it would be funny to use his ki to fuse the metal door shut.

Giggling from inside of her lab taunted her.

"Trunks Vegeta Briefs!" she could hear shuffling from behind the door. "You open the door this moment!"

"I don't know what you're talking about mom, I'm not in here!"

"Ugnuhhh!"

"Locked out again honey?" Whipping around furiously, Bulma met her father with angry eyes and he shuffled by, puffing away at his pipe. Dr. Briefs sighed. "I'll get the blow torch again"

Suddenly the doorbell rang from upstairs.

"Oh visitors! Trunks, let's see who's at the door." Goten said from inside.

"Mooooommm!" Bulma called. It was probably Gohan's friends. "Could you get the door?"

XX

Cheery as she could ever be, Bunny Briefs almost floated to the door by her daughter's call, mixing muffin mix with a face full of flour as she went. She hummed as she glided the floor, happy to have visitors on this fine Saturday morning. Maybe they'd be willing to try her new muffin recipe.

When she opened the door, Bunny was surprised to see a woman in a gray pantsuit and a leather folder, with a badge pinned to her suit jacket. It was atypical attire for such a lovely lady to wear on such a beautiful Saturday but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it entered her mind.

"Oh hello there!" She all but hugged the woman as she introduced herself, almost spilling her muffin mix to the floor. "I'm Bunny Briefs, you must be one of Gohan's friends"

The lady stiffened under Bunny's hold. "Uh, no ma'am I'm Gretchen Punctilious, I'm from social services. I'm here to observe…."she checked her paperwork. "Bulma and Vegeta Briefs and Gohan and Goten Son." She readjusted her glasses on her face and made sure to smooth back her hair that was wound tightly into a bun, so as not to have any fly-aways.

"Oh my! I thought you were scheduled to come tomorrow?" Bunny asked.

Gretchen smiled. "I like to come earlier than expected, catch the family off guard should there be any idiosyncrasies."

"Oh, well I can assure you there's none of that going on here," just as those words left Bunny's lips, a crash was heard coming from downstairs in the mansion. Gretchen eyed Bunny curiously while Bunny kept on smiling, as if she didn't hear the same thing Gretchen heard. "Well, come on in dear. Oh, this is so delightful! Now I'll have another person to try my new muffin recipe!"

"Ma'am I—"

"Tell me Ms….."Bunny eyed the woman's badge. "Ms. P! Would you mind if I called you Ms. P?"

"I—"

"Do you like bananas? I love bananas, I put them in almost everything I bake! And the boys love them too! Oh! Except Gohan, poor thing is allergic. And we found out in the most awful way too! I made the boys a delicious banana bread and he started choking and his face swelled up like a circus balloon! Oh, it was just awful! He looked like a little chipmunk for days!"

"Did you not provide him with medical attention?"

"Oh no, we tried to rush him to the emergency room but Vegeta started talking about how he needed to toughen up and be a warrior, whatever that means. He just gave him some Benadryl and had him wait it out." Bunny shook her head. "You know, I know my daughter loves him and all but half the time, I don't even know what my son in law is talking about!" Bunny giggled.

Giving the delighted grandma an agreeing smile in hopes she'd shut up, Gretchen whipped out her pen and scribbled some things in her notebook.

"So darling, would you like a cup of tea?"

"No thank you Mrs. Briefs—" a loud banging interrupted her.

"No please! Call me Bunny!" she smiled again as if she hadn't heard a thing. Gretchen eyed her again waiting for her to address the noises at hand but still no reaction came from her.

"Right well, I'd like to speak to Bulma Briefs, if she's available."

"Oh sure, I think she's downstairs cooped up in that lab of hers. Let's go and get her!"

Setting her mixing bowl down on the hall table as if it belonged there, Bunny wiped her hands in her apron and led the way.

XX

As the two ladies walked down to the lab, the banging was getting louder, followed by strings of curses and what sounded like—and smelled like—burning metal.

Gretchen's eyes looked around vigorously, upset that she had left her camera in the car. Surely a sealed off dungeon like this at the bottom of a house couldn't be child friendly.

"Right this way dear," Bunny called, guiding her through a series of password protected doors and entry ways. With each step the banging got louder and louder and so did the cursing. Then finally, after being led through the final hallway, the two ladies found Bulma with a blow torch in hand and a safety goggles on her eyes, kicking the door while trying to melt it open.

"Bulma honey," Bunny called, but she was too engrossed in exacting revenge.

"Ugnuhh I swear to God Trunks when I get my hands on you, you're as dead as your pet gerbil Sir Mittens, which by the way did _not_ run away to a happy farm, I ran over him with the vacuum cleaner!" She sounded maniacal as she torched the door.

A gasp came from behind the door. "You killed Sir Mittens?! I knew it!"

"Bulma honey,"

"That's right!" she said, still wielding her blow torch. "And you're next!" she kicked the door again for good measure. "I'm going to chop your hands off one by one and mount it on a plaque and give it to your father! And he's going to say, _hmmm, this is a nice gift Bulma, where did you get it_? And I'm gonna' say, _from the devil hands of your son_! And He's—"

"Bulma! Dear," Bunny finally called, she was still smiling, not making anything of the punitive threats her daughter made to her 7 year old grandson.

"What?!" Bulma finally whipped around. She looked like a woman gone mad.

"Honey, the social worker is here, she came to observe the boys."

Bunny smiled, Bulma paled, and Gretchen tried to drink in the sight in which she was seeing. A heavy silence fell between the three women, the only sound between them emitting from the hand held blow torch which kept ablaze in Bulma's hand.

She couldn't have just said the social worker could she? Eyes darting to the badge on the visitor's jacket, Bulma realized this was no joke.

"Heeeee's the apple of my eye" she finally recovered, grinning as she snatched the goggles from her face.

Regrouping herself quickly, Bulma shut off the blow torch and threw it to the side then plastered on the biggest, fakest smile she could muster.

"Hiiiiiiiii," she said, stretching her hand out to shake. "I'm Bulma Briefs. So nice to see you in this _private_ part of my lab" she bit out the last part to her mother who was apparently oblivious to anything that didn't involve tea and baked goods.

The woman shook her hand. "Gretchen Punctilious," she introduced. "The children don't have access to this do they?" she asked. "Seems kind of dangerous."

Bulma frowned momentarily, trying to piece together the irony of her last name before she answered. "Uhhh no, no they don't," she said. And as if to spite her, giggling came from behind the door.

Gretchen raised an eyebrow. "And who isssss that? Exactly?"

"Oh that? In there? That's just uhhh my intern. He's my nephew and he uhhh, he gets on my nerves sometimes. Heh. Heh."

Gretchen opened her leather binder and skimmed some paper work. "It says here that you have no known relatives other than your mother and father."

"Right uhhh, he's my nephew on my husband's side," she added quickly. Bunny seemed to be looking in the air, trying to make sense of Bulma's lie. She didn't know Vegeta was an Uncle.

"Honey—"

"Why don't we go upstairs and grab a cup of tea?" Bulma interrupted. "If my dad catches unauthorized personnel down here, he gets kind of hairy. Heh. You know, Capsule Corp protocol."

Gretchen nodded before clicking her pen and scribbling some things down on her note pad.

Bulma gulped. "Umm, right this way."

XXX

"So Mrs. Briefs," Gretchen began once they were comfortably seated in the kitchen. "Do you conduct all your work from home?"

"Oh no, I just work on a few prototypes here. All of our main operations take place downtown." Bulma poured herself a cup of tea and sat down across from Gretchen. They had already established that Ms. Punctilious arrived a day early, in order to see the family in their _natural_ environment, and Bulma swore once all the I's were dotted and T's crossed, she'd make a personal vendetta to hunt down the office of social services in her district to give them a very loud, very obscene, piece of her mind.

"Here you are ladies; I made some cookies this morning!"

That is if her mother didn't get it first. Bunny placed a plate of warm cookies in front of the two women before floating back to the oven. Bulma frowned in her mother's direction.

She then smiled as Gretchen scribbled some more things down.

"Oh and uhhh," she began quietly. "Please ignore anything my mother may have told you. She's not all there."

"Does she watch over the children?"

"Oh all the time!" Bunny interrupted. "Especially on days like today when Bulma's holed up in her lab and Vegeta in that silly gravity room. I just love babysitting my precious grandbabies and making them all their favorite treats!"

Bulma slapped her forehead. She could tell already—if she hadn't before—this was going to be extremely disastrous.

"Gravity room?" the social worker asked. She had never heard of such a thing before and if she didn't know any better, it almost sounded like some sort of torture chamber.

Bulma peaked from her hand, she had almost missed that part. "Oh uhhh, that's my husbands' home gym. He just likes to call it the uhhh, gravity room." Gee that even sounded lame to her. " _C'mon Briefs, you're supposed to be a genius aren't you? Get it together_!"

"Mmmm hmmm," more scribbling on Gretchen's part. "Speaking of your husband, is he available? I'd really like to speak to the both of you together."

"Available? Like available right now?" Looking out the kitchen window to the back yard, Bulma internally sighed and thought about the best possible way to extract Vegeta from his training and get him on board with the social worker. She didn't even have time to rehearse some questions with him as she was planning on doing tonight.

Thinking about leaving Gretchen here while she went to fetch her husband had proven consequences; her mother was still in the kitchen. Then there was the option of taking Gretchen with her while she disturbed the beast.

Bulma sighed aloud now. There was no way this meeting could go any worse.

"Sure, I'll take you to him."

XX

Vegeta was on a high; being the strongest being on planet Earth—naturally— will do that to a Saijin. He had no real reason to train with the intensity he did but he did it anyway. Now that Kakkarot was gone he could live comfortably with the fact that he and only he, the Prince of all Saijins was the strongest being in the galaxy. But he didn't want to get too comfortable, he knew inevitable enemies would strike when he least expected it so he needed to remain on guard; and fit. If anything else, his immediate goal was to peak his own strength and become stronger than he has ever become before. That way, taking out any foreign threat would be a synch.

So as he trained at 600 times normal gravity, a new record for him, he punched, kicked, swung and batted at open air, foreseeing the enemy in front of his eyes as he combatted for his honor.

"So this is how you chose your method of attack huh?" he spoke to his imaginary enemy. "Ha!" A roundhouse kick to the air. "You should know, I'm no force to be reckoned with. Of all the species in all the galaxies, _you_ will fall at the hands of the Prince of all—"

The sound of a slow power down interrupted his monologue and Vegeta paused mid roundhouse kick.

Knowing it'd be one of his children to interrupt his rather rare and glorious day, Vegeta frowned hard and glared at the door to see which idiot brat would be brave enough to enter.

He formed a ki in his hand, ready to show his distaste for the sudden interruption when suddenly, big blue eyes widened in horror from the door window and blue hair shook vigorously back and forth.

The ki dissipated from his hand as quickly as it appeared and Vegeta strode to the door just as his wife had opened it.

"Woman, what the hell do you think you're doing interrupting me while I'm—"

"Vegeta, this is Gretchen," Bulma plastered on a forced smile that made him suddenly nervous. "She's the social worker I've been telling you about and she's here a day early!" She spoke three octaves to higher and her words came mottled out through clenched teeth. "Isn't that great?"

Unsure of what to say next, Vegeta eyed their visitor once over before looking back to his wife. He wasn't exactly sure why he had to be involved in all this, and why there were strangers with badges, constantly parading through their home. But Bulma had explained to him before it was so she could adopt Kakkarot's brats legally and she'd have an easier time if they saw that the two of them were married, versus her all alone. Luckily for him, he didn't have to say or do much when the last old geezer came by because he was on his way to the grave yard as soon as he left but this lady….this lady looked at him with a squander in her eyes that actually made the Prince uncomfortable. It was a look he'd seen before but couldn't quite place. A look he was sure he only quite got when Bulma had dragged him and the brats to that market place she liked to shop and while he waited for her to try on clothes, the other women always looked at him like a piece of rotisserie—ooooooohhhhhhh shit.

Gretchen, while initially curious as to what this massive metal fort was doing perched on the East wing of the Capsule Corp lawn, and how it was a blaring danger for children, found herself blindly distracted by the rippling sweaty man who greeted her and Mrs. Briefs at the door. This couldn't be Mr. Briefs could it? He was a chiseled gorgeous masterpiece of individually wrapped heaven! Much like a twinkie if it were beefy and stared at you with smoldering eyes.

Sweat gathered in places that it shouldn't and Ms. Punctilious fanned herself with her leather folder. "Hi," she said, not meaning for it to come out so flighty. "I'm Gretchen…Ms. Punctilious…Gretchen Punctilious." She held out her hand to shake and Vegeta looked down at it.

From her spot next to Gretchen, Bulma urged him to take it.

Gretchen almost fainted at the man's touch. "Vegeta," he bit out.

"Right, Mr. Briefs correct?"

Vegeta grumbled. He hated that as an Earth formality, he had to adopt his wife's ridiculous last name but he did it to make her happy. "Yeah,"

"Well, Mr. Briefs, I must say it is a pleasure to meet you and what a lovely…gym you have here." Gretchen looked around to find an empty room with only a mainframe and a screen in the middle of it all.

Vegeta looked behind him. "Yeah," he said again. He didn't know what he was supposed to say. Damn his wife, she was supposed to rehearse with him tonight.

"I would imagine you keep the children in marvelous physical shape, just like yourself, right?"

Before Vegeta could even dream up a response, Gretchen unwound her hair from its tight bun and shrugged herself out of her jacket. She smiled at the Saijin Prince as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and folded her jacket neatly over her forearm.

Vegeta watched in a stupor, stunned this woman was so bold and when he caught a glimpse of his wife's maddening eyebrows and reddening face, he knew he'd better put a stop to this, and stop it quick.

"The children aren't allowed in here," he lied. "This is a highly classified part of the compound. In fact, I'm surprised my wife is allowing your agency to see parts of the compound which are not directly related to the children," he directed the last part to Bulma in particular.

"Well, Gretchen is just getting all kinds of exclusive tours of the mansion today honey!" There were those octaves again. "And she needed to speak to the both of us together, so here we are!"

"Well actually, I find that in a situation as dire as the boy's one, they tend to lean on support from the primary male figure in their life." She flipped her hair again. "So perhaps, you and I, should talk about the boys then hmm?"

At some time during her speaking, Bulma had shrouded behind the social worker and therefore Gretchen didn't see when she rolled her sleeves up and prepared to strike with a blow to the back of the head.

And as much as Vegeta would have liked, no, would have _killed_ to watch this scene unfold, he knew it could ultimately lead to no good and Bulma had been working for a long time to gain full and legal custody of the brats. Any harm that came to this woman would demolish all of her hard work.

" _I swear to God, the next time the little bald troll gives me hell about once killing him,_ " he thought, quickly pulling Gretchen from Bulma's foul swing. He was surely becoming too good for even his own existence.

"The eldest boy is near the swimming pool with some of his school mates," he said. From behind Gretchen, Bulma simmered in her anger, internally grateful for Vegeta's save. "Why don't you go talk to him? I'll go and find the youngest boy and bring him to you."

Gretchen, who shivered at the man's touch smiled in return. "Sure thing, catch you in a few minutes then," she blew him and wink and Vegeta just stood there.

"Could you lead me to the swimming pool Mrs. Briefs?" Ms. Punctilious began to exit the gravity and Bulma growled from her spot on the floor.

"Don't let your opponent get under your skin," her husband was suddenly at her side, whispering in her ear. "Attack with blind fury and you'll be sure to lose."

"I'll show that bitch fury," she snarled.

Vegeta smirked. "I like the jealous you. It kind of turns me on."

Bulma huffed. Though agitated at the ballsy social worker, she was kind of proud at her husband's ability to cover for her. "Remind me to thank you later tonight with a blow job that'll blow your boots off."

Vegeta's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he leaned down to kiss her neck, right where he had marked her as his mate. "All that for batting off a weakling Earth woman? Hmmm, I should do it more often then."

"Mrs. Briefs!" Gretchen called from out on the lawn in a sing-songy voice.

"Coming!" her voice had risen three octaves again and she turned to give her husband a look of agony.

Vegeta spanked her ass on her way out and Bulma squeaked. "See you tonight."

XXX

Having realized now that this was a terrible day to have his friends over from school, Bulma could only hope that the teen boy would be the saving grace of this visit. He was at most nerdy and shy, so how bad could his school friends really be?

"Oooo, Gohan you're such a cutie in those swim trunks. Maybe you should give us a little show instead of jumping from the dive board." Came a squeaky voice from the pool area.

"Ha, yeah right! Like those muscles are actually real!"

The squeaky voice huffed. "Ugnuh! Of course they're real Sharpie! How in the world is he gonna get fake muscles!"

"He lives at friggin Capsule Corp! He can probably get access to anything in that fancy lab."

Arriving at the pool, Bulma and Gretchen found three of Gohan's friends lounged about in the designer patio furniture, waiting for Gohan to jump from atop the tall diving board. It would have seemed like any other normal, G-rated, mom approved Saturday afternoon by the pool except one of Gohan's friends was dressed in a bathing suit made of scraps, the other had the butt of a gun peeking out her bag, music with rather obscene lyrics was blasting out the speakers and there were red solo cups everywhere.

Bulma slapped her forehead. Why oh whyyy did her day have to go this way? She swore next time she got to Dende's lookout she'd grab him by the collar and slap him around a few times.

"C'mon Gohan jump!" the blonde teen encouraged.

"He won't do it Erasa, he's scared." Sharpner smirked and took a drink from his solo cup.

"I'm not scared!" Gohan cried from atop the diving board. Truth was; he actually was a little scared. Scared to show his strength that is. The last time he dived from the diving board at full force he cleared all the water from the pool and cracked the bottom. Bulma had to pay a lot of money to replace it and he felt bad for destroying her property. Not to mention his new friendship with his classmates was pretty fragile. They didn't know everything about him yet.

"C'mon Gohan, what are you chicken?" Videl taunted him from below and Gohan sighed. There was something about this Videl girl made him uneasy in a fidgety kind of way. Of all his new friends he found he was trying to prove himself to her more so than the others so he especially didn't like it when she teased him.

Taking a couple jumps on the board, sure to use his ability to fly to alleviate some of the pressure, Gohan leaped high into the air, catching a few summersaults before he plummeted down to the pool. Again he made sure he was actually flying downward instead of free-falling downward so the force of impact wasn't as great but still, it was enough to catapult a good wave of water from the pool and onto his friends.

And onto Gretchen.

Bulma had stepped back in time, knowing full and well the sum of one pool plus one Saijin but the Social worker and Gohan's friends hadn't been so lucky.

Luckily they were dressed in swimwear but Gretchen….Gretchen shrieked at the sudden onslaught of water. While she took off her glasses and spread her arms, watching as the water dripped from her new pants suit, Bulma could only smirk.

" _That ought to teach you for flirting with my husband bitch_ ," she thought. " _Good one Dende_."

At the cry of foreign voices, the teens turned to face Bulma and the Social worker and Sharpner quickly cut off the music when he saw the two adults.

Gohan swam to the edge of the pool and got out. "Oh man, I'm sorry Bulma did I wet you again?"

"No, not me sweetie," She said, trying to contain her laughter. She really just felt like pushing the broad in but this kind of karma would have to do.

Gohan swiped his towel from the nearby chair and offered it to the soaked stranger. "I'm really sorry." He apologized and handed her the towel. "I didn't see you there."

"It's fine," she bit out from clenched teeth and snatched the towel from his hands.

"Gohan honey, this is Gretchen Punctilious our new case worker," Bulma said with an I'm-just-as-surprised-as-you-are-so-don't-mess-this-up smile. "She came a day early honey."

"Oh hey..." he cleared his throat. "Hello, nice to meet you Ms. Punctilious. I'm Gohan Son." Thankfully he was smart enough to catch on.

"Ms. Punctilious," Gretchen said, still mopping herself down. When she felt she got as much water as she could off of her, she took a look around. The other three teens were staring at her, unsure of what to do or say next. "And these are?"

"Oh, these are my friends from school, Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner," he introduced. Each teen said their hello's, still a little confused as to what they should do next. Where they in trouble here?

Picking up a discarded solo cup with her pen, Gretchen examined inside. "And is there alcohol in these cups?"

"Oh no, no, never," Gohan said and took the cup from her hand. "It's just lemonade. Mrs. Briefs, errr, Bunny…Bulma's mom made us some before we came out here." Discreetly to the side, Sharpner pushed his bag further underneath the chair where it lay. Maybe it was best that Gohan didn't know the real party was to start a little later.

"So it says here that you are….homeschooled?" Gretchen tried her best to read her soaking wet paper work. "Are these other homeschooled children?"

"Oh no. Bulma enrolled me in regular school about two weeks ago. These are my new friends I met at Orange Star Prep."

Gretchen seemed impressed. "Orange Star Prep, that's a pretty good school. You must be a very bright boy."

"He's a regular Albert Einstein," Sharpner added. He thought he was helping but when he received a helpless glance from Gohan and pathetic looks from Erasa and Videl, he buried his nose in his cup.

"And how are you adjusting?" Gretchen asked.

"Really well," Gohan answered. "I like regular school and being around teenagers my own age a lot."

"Mmmhmmm, Gretchen scribbled some things down on the only dry spot on her paper before reading a couple more things in the file. "And how did this come about?" she asked, pointing to a circle shaped scar on the teens chest. She then examined the many scars about his body and scribbled more notes down in her notebook.

Gohan blinked and looked down at his chest. He knew he didn't feel comfortable being shirtless, everyone was looking at his body and not in the 'let's be silly and flex' way that he and his father used to do.

"Uhhhh," how did the teen get that scar? He couldn't remember. Over the years Gohan had collected quite a bit of them. Being a teen warrior certainly had its drawbacks.

"If you ask me, it looks like a bullet wound," Gretchen offered, glancing pointedly at the butt of a gun hanging out one of the bags on the table.

Having caught her look, Videl fumed and marched her way over to the social worker. "Ugnuh! I'll have you know my father is Hercule Satan _the_ greatest warrior on the planet!" she fumed. "And as such, I've been granted privileges to work with the Satan City police department, _which_ allows me to carry a _permitted_ gun!"

She crossed her arms over her torso in huffed anger and Gohan stood stunned, unsure of how he was supposed to respond to that. Should he tell her he could dodge a bullet before it even left the gun barrel?

The social worker however only miffed at the teens haughtiness and continued to scribble on her dry spec of paper.

"Gohan," she said. "Why don't you show me where you sleep?"

Gohan, still confused, looked over to Bulma who was strongly considering jumping into the pool and drowning herself. Then this would all just go away.

"Uhhhhh, sure," he answered. "Be right back guys."

XXX

Walking the long hallways of the house to the master suites, Gohan was happy to show Gretchen his normal room, his normal desk and normal bookshelf full of advanced books, and thankfully, not a spec in his room was out of place.

Finally, since this whole tour started, Gretchen seemed pleased with something concerning the Son boys. Even if it was something as mediocre as Gohan's living situation.

"It seems you have adjusted well here yes?" Gretchen asked. She was continuously writing in her notepad.

"Yes," Gohan answered. He has since put on a shirt. "Me and Goten are doing great. We really like it here."

"Wonderful," the social worker replied. "And speaking of which, where is your little brother?"

"Hi"

Gretchen shrieked.

A short little child with wild hair suddenly appeared behind her, holding a can of grape pop in his hand. She wondered briefly how the child was able to sneak behind her undetected. She was like a hound dog when it came to children; she could sniff them out from a mile away. But this one seemed to appear literally out of thin air.

"Hi, I'm Goten!" he said happy to introduce himself. He loved visitors. He never saw much of them, living in the mountains with his mother and Gohan so when he moved to Capsule Corp he made it a point to approach everyone he could that entered the Capsule Corp compound. Despite what Bulma tried to teach him about stranger danger.

"Nice to meet you Goten, I'm Ms. Punctilious," Gretchen introduced. He crouched down so she was at eye level with him.

"Can you open this for me?" Goten asked, and he handed her his can of pop.

"Sure honey"

"No—"

Bulma could barely utter a syllable when Gretchen popped the seal of the soda can and grape soda spit at her like a geyser, right in the face.

Bulma groaned and looked around Gohan's room. She wondered how much of these nice things they'd allow him to bring to the orphanage.

Meanwhile Goten giggled and took the can from Ms. Punctilious' hands happy she was able to shimmy under the tight lid of can since he wasn't. He'd been trying to shake it open for the last half hour. "Thank you," he said and took a sip.

Gohan slowly handed the social worker his towel and she snatched it again. "No problem," she regarded the small boy and wiped her face.

"So…Goten," she was getting real tired of this visit now. Just a few more questions and she was due for a serious talk with Mrs. Briefs. "Would you like to show me your room?"

"Yeah!"

XX

Goten's room was a little less neat than Gohans' room. Actually…his room was a complete disaster zone and it seemed that the bots hadn't made it to his room yet to spruce it up. Or he had just been through it in the last five minutes. Bulma could never really tell.

Toys and books scattered the floor and his desk was full of crayon and marker scribbles. The floor had a hole or two he had stomped through—from an intense game of cowboys and Indians with Trunks—and there three slices of unknown meat slapped to his ceiling.

Gretchen took a look around at the horrid conditions, looking to the youngest Son boy for the same ghastly look of horror, or at the very least sadness or disappointment but the chibi was only picking his nose.

As she stepped further inside she came across a couple of pictures on the ground, obviously drawn by the boy in question but on each paper was a picture of a boy at a playground, either screaming, screaming and on fire, or screaming, on fire, and covered in ants.

She picked up one of the drawings and handed it to Goten and he smiled. "Oh, that's my apology card for Timmy," he said. "I pushed him in a pile of ants yesterday."

Gretchen smiled nervously and put the paper back on the floor before writing some more things down. Bulma slapped her for head again.

"And Goten," she said, closing her folder. "How are you adjusting here with Mrs. Briefs?"

Goten first looked to his brother for an answer, before looking to Bulma. Both were urging him with pleading eyes to answer as they taught him but truth be told he couldn't remember all the words he was supposed to say.

"I like it here," he said, unsure at first but then he found his footing. "I get three healthy meals and day, and attend a five star school and I'm in bed by eight every night."

Bulma thankfully sighed. Finally, one thing goes right today.

"And do you ever feel like you're treated unfairly? Or that you're not given enough attention."

Goten looked to the roof for an answer and sipped at his pop again. "Mmmm, sometimes," he said. "But that's only when Trunks plays with his new toys, and makes me play with his old ones."

Bulma sighed in relief again. That could have gone sour.

"Or when Vegeta socks me."

"Does what to you I'm sorry?"

Bulma paled. No! No! No! No! No!

"Yeah he gets me real good," Goten grinned. "Mostly when I'm not paying attention or when I need a break from training. He says: _Get up runt! There's no breaks in times of war! Stop being a weakling like your father!_ " he put on his best Vegeta voice and Gretchen gasped. "Sometimes he hits me 10 times a day!"

"Ok!" Gohan suddenly snatched his younger brother up, covering his mouth in the process. "Silly Goten…heh heh. Way too much soda pop this afternoon huh?" Goten looked up at his brother still trying to talk despite his mouth being shut. "What was that? You want to go play outside? Sure, let's go!"

As Gohan scuttled out the room with his brother in his arms, Bulma wanted to die at the mayhem that suddenly became her life. She watched with dread as Gretchen scribbled the last few notes in her notebook before closing it shut.

"Mrs. Briefs," she began with all the composure a woman soaked in chlorine and soda possible could. "Perhaps we should have a talk"

XXX

"What are they saying down there Trunks?"

"Shhhh! I can't hear with your yammering Goten. Pipe down!"

"Well hurry up, I can't hold onto you forever, you're really heavy!"

"Shhhhhh!"

Hanging like barrel monkeys from the stair railing, the two boys were doing their best to eavesdrop on the conversation taking place down below with the social worker and Bulma. From Trunk's perspective it didn't sound good. He heard the social worker say things like guns, alcohol and abuse and he could hear his mother sniffling back tears.

"It doesn't sound good Goten," he broke the news to his friend.

"What do you mean it doesn't sound good Trunks? I thought you said that this lady could take us away. That if she doesn't like mommy Bulma that Gohan and I couldn't live here anymore!"

"I did say that!"

"Well then we have fix it! We have to make sure its good Trunks! I don't want to leave! I don't want to go to a big home where we have to share toilets with the barn animals and sleep with the pigs!"

Trunks snickered. Sometimes his friend was so easy to scare.

"Be quiet you big baby. You're not going to sleep in a barn yard ok? I have an idea."

XXX

"Ms. Punctilious, you don't understand. Everything was just a big misunderstanding. My family….my family can just get a little hectic on Saturday. I promise, I promise if you come tomorrow, they'll be new boys." Bulma pleaded. She had the finalized paperwork with her, all it required was a signature and a stamp and the boys would be all hers. But unfortunately, it was all riding on this home visit.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Briefs, but obviously you can understand my reservations. Not to mention from what I've seen today, I'm going to have to place a call to my office immediately to have these boys removed. Under no circumstances should any child be living in a home like this."

"No!" Bulma cried and banged her fist on the desk. Tears leapt to her eyes and she fought to keep them in. "You can't take them away from me! I'm all they have!"

"Mrs. Briefs—"

"You don't know anything about those boys! About how Gohan likes cold milk every evening or how Goten always calms down to old jazz records. You don't know how much they like to be together, and how much they both look up to Vegeta. Or how sad Gohan gets when it rains and how much Goten likes to build mud piles. You couldn't possibly know any of that because you haven't been here, I have! I've been here every step of the way and I love them! They're mine! They're my boys and you can't take them away!"

"Mrs. Briefs I'm sorry but I'm afraid the conditions of your home are just not suitable for these boys. They deserve better."

As she picked up her cellphone and began to dial a call, Bulma's inner fury was channeling her innermost "What would Vegeta do" moment. She was just about to lunge across the table and snatch the phone from Gretchen's hand when suddenly—

The drapes to the kitchen window drew shut and the lights went out.

Having heavily tinted windows across the house that responded to opening and closing of the drapes, all traces of the sun were blocked by the high efficient windows and the room was now pitch black.

"What the hell?" Gretchen asked.

As if in response to her quandary, the room began to shudder and the ladies' tea and assortment of cakes smashed to the floor.

"It's an Earthquake!" Gretchen cried. "Oh my God! An Earthquake!"

Bulma was just about to dash from the room to grab the boys when something outside the room caught her attention. Nothing else was shaking. It seemed the Earthquake was contained to only the kitchen and the rest of her house was undisturbed.

That was quite unusual. Stopping herself and turning around, a flash of purple snapped in front of her eyes. Any other human eye would have missed it, but having birthed and raised her son, she knew when he was trying to speed by unnoticed.

Suddenly everything began to crash around the kitchen. Glasses broke, food spilled everywhere and appliances toppled over. Gretchen was screaming and cowering under the table and Bulma just looked around at her son's handiwork, wondering what he was up to and what kind of punishment she could dream up for him destroying her kitchen.

And then, just as quickly as it started, everything stopped. The shuddering, the crashing and the clanging. The kitchen was a clear disaster zone and as the final flour settled, the drapes slowly drew themselves open.

Gretchen slowly got up from under the table, surveying the damage in the kitchen when she got a look around and screamed blood murder.

Bulma jumped in fright, half expecting to see a dead body on the ground from the sheer authenticity of the scream but when she followed Gretchen's trail of sight, she too gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

There on the kitchen window, written in red frosting was the following message:

 _Gretchen! This is Goku, the boys' dead father! Leave my boys to Bulma or I will come and I will haunt you. I will get you at 772 West City Lane at 7 pm tonight! If you do not sign those papers, you will live your life in misury!_

Gretchen kept screaming, unable to grasp the seriousness of the message in whipped blood red.

"Blaaahhhhh! Arrrrrgggaaahhhhhhhh!"

She screamed harder when two masked gremlins, flew in front of her face and began screaming gurgling mumblings at her, exerting winds of such force, it dried off all her chlorine and soda pop and blew her hair upward and outward as if she had been electrified.

Both gremlins were covered in white powder, one of them drooling from the mouth and the other glaring at her through teal eyes.

"Aarrrruuuaaahhhh!"

Gretchen screamed once more and franticly dug around for her stamp in her purse before throwing it at Bulma and running from the house screaming. "The boys are yours!" she shrieked. "The boys are yourrrrsssss!"

Her screams echoed in the long halls of the compound before the front door slammed and the engine of her car took off down the road in a fright.

After hearing all the commotion, Gohan and Vegeta, finally made it to the kitchen.

"Bulma, is everything alright? Where are the boys?!"

"Christ, what happened in here woman?"

Bulma snickered and looked to her two gremlins, who descended to the floor and removed their masks.

"Yeah! We did it Goten! It worked!" Trunks said, slapping his friend with a high-five.

Goten smiled and looked up at Bulma, flour shaking off his body with every step toward her. "Did we do it mommy Bulma? Does this mean we can stay?"

Bulma surveyed her kitchen. It was obviously destroyed and would be out of commission or a few days and truthfully this was no different than any other Saturday in her household. Any other Saturday in which her boys found some way to cause mayhem, destroy her house, cost her tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and reconstruction, and find themselves grounded or in Vegeta's gravity room by the end of the day. But when she saw the discarded stamp of approval on the floor and the look of hope in the young Chibi's eyes, she picked them both up into her arms.

Finding her paperwork on the table, covered in frosting, jelly and cake residue, Bulma found the appropriate place for the seal of approval and stamped both papers herself.

"Yes baby," she said and she kissed Goten's powdery cheek. "You're staying"

Goten beamed and Trunks leapt in the air for joy.

For once Bulma had to contend, she was glad the other moms didn't want her on the PTA. She loved her boys just the way they were. Even if they couldn't spell ' _misery_.'

XXX

Soo how'd you like it? Let me know what you think!


	3. Of Jealousy and Attention

Of Jealousy and Attention

Soooo my chapters are ridiculously long but…ah well. Just read it and like it ;)

XXX

 _2 months post move-in to Capsule Corp_

Vegeta sat on the bed of the master suite he shared with his wife, head hung low as he sweat to death in his crisp, tailored monkey suit and waited for his wife to finish getting ready.

Why or whyyy was he doing this again?

Oh right, because he loved her.

Feh. His father was right. Bonding with a woman would push even the strongest of Saijin men into uncharted territory; a territory of no return.

He wondered if his life would be this way if he were still a merciless killer.

"Vegeta are you ok?" Bulma called from the bathroom.

He 'humpfed,' and Bulma giggled. She'd been doing that for the past 20 minutes as she dressed in the bathroom. Calling out to him to make sure he hadn't hung himself with his bow-tie, or backed out of their deal.

Ah, that's what it was, those deals of hers. His wife was a quick talker; always able to pull one over on the already witty Prince. First she had rallied him into signing over his life to take care of three children versus the one he already had (though to be fair, he knew the runts were without any parents who could properly tend to Saijin children since Kakkarot's mate had just passed away) and now she was hauling him to one of her charity benefits hosted by Capsule Corporation because as she so eloquently put it, "A rich, genius, CEO always looks even better with a handsome hunk on her arm."

Vegeta groaned. Ok, that wasn't much of a deal now that he thought about it. What exactly was he getting out of all of this?

Bulma suddenly bounced from the bathroom, loosening a pin curl from her hair. Dawning a fitted black dress that hugged her at the waist, her ample cleavage bounced with her, spilling for all of the Prince to see.

Ah. That's why.

"Not thinking of backing out now are ya?" she winked.

Vegeta sighed. "No, I'm a man of my word." " _Unfortunately_ "

Bulma smiled and wondered back into the bathroom and as soon as he flicked on the TV, the youngest brat with hair as wild as Kakkarot's wondered into the open room.

"Mr. Vegeta," he said. He was holding a can of Orange pop. "Can you open this for me?"

Vegeta gruffed. " _Pathetic. The runt is even weaker than I thought_." It was the Prince's own personal opinion that Goten's mother did him a disservice by sealing him off from his Saijin heritage. She refused to train him in the most basic modes of self-defense and it was obvious by his frail ki and inability to exert basic independent efforts (such as this) that he was most definitely a runt. But he did have a substantial amount of potential. That was eminent in his transformation to Super Saijin to ward off the men who attacked his mother. Vegeta vowed to unlock that potential in the boy if, in the most basic attempts, just to give the boy something to be proud of. He did after all come from a low class family. But for now Bulma warned him that he was in a delicate mental state having the death of his mother so raw and he wasn't ready for training so weak he remained.

Despite his misgivings about the youngest child, Vegeta silently held out his hand and Goten placed the can inside.

He picked his nose while he waited for the Prince to open it for him. "Trunks said if I shook it really hard it would open but I tried for 10 minutes and it wouldn't budge."

Vegeta paused, just as his finger was about to pop the lid. He rolled his eyes and trudged to the bathroom, silently thankful the kid spoke up when he did. Bulma would give him hell if he ruined his suit.

Hovering the can over the shower, Vegeta popped the lid and let the drink spray in the confines of the four walls, before passing it to Goten who had followed him to the bathroom.

Goten smiled and accepted the drink.

"Thanks Mr. Briefs"

He cringed on his way out. " _Don't_ call me that." He bit out. "It's Vegeta"

Bulma giggled at her husband.

"Hey little man," she now directed her attention to Goten. "What's up?"

"Ms. Bulma," he said and placed his can on the counter before shimming his way up. He couldn't fly yet like Gohan or Trunks but the kid sure could climb as if his tail was still attached to his bottom. To say that Saijins descended from giant monkey's was saying the least. "Whatcha doing?"

"Putting on some make-up honey," Bulma said glancing in the mirror to make sure the young boy wouldn't fall off the counter before continuing with her make up.

Goten sipped his soda. "Why?"

"Because, I want to look pretty for tonight."

Goten smiled, then looked bashfully in his soda can. "But you're already pretty Ms. Bulma."

Bulma smiled in return, and turned to blow a raspberry in his cheek. He giggled at her touch. "Well thank you honey. It's nice to _hear that every once and awhile_!" she shouted the last part to her husband who grunted from the room. "But sometimes, grown-ups want to look extra pretty for a special occasion."

"Oh," Goten pondered this for a moment. "Like when friends come over?"

"Exactly. Or when you haven't seen someone in a long time or when you go to a party," She offered.

"Oh, I get it now," Goten smiled. "Can I have some make up?"

"Goten honey—"

"Mom, where's your screw driver?"

The call of her son interrupted her as he next entered her open room door and began looking around the master suite.

"Top drawer of my dresser honey," Bulma replied nonchalantly. She put down her mascara. "Trunks, what do you need a screw driver for? And what happened to the one I gave you?"

"Uhhhhh, I may have jammed that one into the main frame of dad's gravity room."

"You did what?!" Vegeta roared.

Trunks shimmied up the tall dresser, much like Goten did to get up on the counter and retrieved what he was looking for out the top drawer. "Don't worry dad, Grandpa got it out. I didn't break anything…well…except the screw driver."

Vegeta huffed. "What have I told you about messing around in there? You walk through those doors it's to train!"

"Yeah, uh huh," ignoring his father Trunks jumped down, two screw drivers in his hand as he wondered to the bathroom. Vegeta scowled. He'd have to start killing again. He was apparently the laughing stock of his own household.

"Mom can I use both of these?"

Trunks held up both screwdrivers to his mother, whom was rather preoccupied, blowing raspberries into the giggling Goten's belly.

"Mooooommm?"

"Yes, yes, go ahead honey. Just make sure you put them back."

Trunks sighed. He remembered when his mom used to tickle his tummy. He _used_ to like it, but that was ages ago. Back when he was a toddler. He was a big kid now; all of six years old. And when his mom got a gander at what he was building now, she'd be floored. Much too stunned to play baby games with Goten anymore.

"Ok well, I'll be getting back to my room now, if anyone needs me."

Bulma continued to tickle Goten, while Vegeta stared wonderlessly out the balcony windows.

"If anyone cares," he grumbled, then left the room.

"Huh? Did you say something Trunks?" Looking up from her tickle torture with Goten, Bulma looked for her lavender haired son. "Huh. Where'd he go?"

XXX

About half an hour later when she finally finished getting ready, Bulma made her way downstairs where her husband had relocated to wait for her.

"Finally," he said and shut off the TV, tossing the remote. "Ready to go?"

"Almost," Bulma said and placed her clutch on the sofa. "Boyyyyyysssss!"

Vegeta gruffed and plopped back into the chair.

Gohan was the first to trot down the stairs, unnoticed by Bulma as she fixed her hair in a hall mirror.

"You called Bulma?"

She gasped when his face appeared suddenly in her mirror.

Turning around to face him, Gohan hung his head morosely in embarrassment.

"Do I look that bad still?" he asked.

"Ummmm…"

"Yes," Vegeta answered.

"Vegeta!" Bulma snapped and Gohan groaned. "Oh Gohan honey, it's not that bad." She cupped his swollen cheeks. "The swelling should go down by tomorrow." She cooed. "Well…at least the most visible ones."

Despite giving her mother a very detailed guidebook on what to and what not to feed the boys, Bunny decided to throw caution into the wind and shove banana bread down their throats the other morning, leaving a very red, very swollen Gohan. Poor thing looked like his face had been stung by a hive of bees and the only reason she hadn't taken him to the doctor was because she had just filled out the application to legally adopt the boys and a visit to the hospital via near-death-by-banana-bread didn't seem like it'd put the heiress off to a good start. That and her husband wouldn't shut up about him "being a man and dealing with it."

"Don't worry baby, just take some more medicine and go get some rest. Don't forget to us the cold compress I gave you."

"What about Trunks and Goten?" the teen boy asked. "Aren't you guys going out for the evening?"

"Oh don't worry, I got a sitter."

The doorbell rang at that exact moment to confirm her story. Bulma smiled. "Perfect, right on time."

Bulma opened the door to reveal her longtime friend and his pregnant wife, who smiled at her greeting as she welcomed them inside. "Krillen, Eighteen!" she welcomed, hugging them both as they came in. "So great to see you guys, thanks again for doing this for me."

"No problem," Krillen grinned and shoved his hands in the pockets on his pants. "I mean what else could we be doing on a Saturday night? We live on a remote island, no important gala's to go to there," he laughed at his own joke while Eighteen remained stoic.

From the couch Vegeta rolled his eyes. The little bald one always thought he was so hilarious.

"Plus," Krillen added. "We could use all the practice we can get before this little one arrives." He placed his hand on his wife's heavily pregnant belly. Eighteen seemed to be glowing in pregnancy...well actually, she kind of always glowed but she didn't look particularly happy about her present situation.

Bulma smiled. "That's great, how far along are you now Eighteen?" she asked.

"Eight and a half long torturous months," she replied. She sounded as dire as her words. "Say you have anything down in that lab that can induce labor? I'm ready to get this kid outta me."

Bulma chuckled. "No sorry. Although you do prompt the idea for me to start working on one tomorrow. I remember how miserable it was when I was that pregnant with Trunks."

Eighteen sighed. "I'll gladly be your prototype."

"Eighteen," Krillen scolded. He had such a light-hearted, sensible sense of humor. His wife on the other hand…was a bit dark. He didn't find it at all funny that she'd volunteer to be a test subject when she had already been one.

"Oh, don't be such a worry wart, I was only kid—gahhh!" the blonde suddenly gasped and jumped back behind her husband, holding her belly for safe keeping. "What is _that_?"

The teen who had been standing there the whole time, again hung his head morosely in shame.

"Gohan?" Krillen asked. He was just as stunned. "Is that you?"

Gohan sighed. "Yeah," he said. Now he knew what the big hairy beast in that movie he saw felt like.

"What—what happened to you man?"

Bulma cupped his cheeks again. "Poor thing was lured in by my mother with banana bread," she explained. "He's allergic"

"Christ, an allergy could do _that_ to you?" Eighteen asked.

"I've been this way for two days," Gohan reported, and scratched his swollen ear.

"Oh stop your whining boy," Vegeta rose from the couch and dropped the remote. "So you're a bit uglier for a few days. Beats a metal rod through your chest while you fight off space pirates and try to navigate your way back home."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Thank you Saijin extraordinaire," she told her husband who glared at her. Now she turned to face Krillen. "Soo just don't give him any more bananas and he should be fine. He'll be knocked out in the next couple minutes once he takes his medicine anyway."

"What about the other two?" Krillen asked.

"Trunks is in his room working on something or the other, if you hear any minor explosions, just make sure he has all 32 teeth." She smiled. "And Goten…" Bulma looked around. The young Chibi hadn't been anywhere in sight. "Hmm he must be in his room but he's showered and has eaten so he should be ok as long as you give him a small snack before bed—"

"Ms. Bulma?"

Dammit. Looks like she wouldn't be making a clean escape this evening.

"Ms. Bulma where are you going? Are you leaving me?"

Vegeta groaned and again flopped back on the couch. He knew where this was going.

"Only for a little while baby," she said, and crouched down so she was at eye level with him. "But look, Krillen and Eighteen are here to play with you while I'm gone."

Tears suddenly lit his chubby face. "No!" he said and latched onto her legs. Bulma struggled to keep her footing.

This had been going on ever since the boys moved into Capsule Corp. Bulma could barely walk out the room without the young boy following behind her and when she tried to run minute errands like grocery shopping or meeting for appointments, Goten would throw a fit to either come with her or have her stay.

This was her first outing with her husband since Chi-Chi's death and since the boys moved in and she was worried about this. The look on his face every time she made to leave made her feel guilty about going in the first place. The boys were so broken, and they needed her. How could she walk out the door when she was obligated to two hurting children who were more important that whatever else waited for her?

"Bulma," Vegeta knew that look on her face. She was giving in. She had already succumbed to both the boy's death grips on her conscious by canceling a dinner three weeks ago and a press conference last week. "We're going to be late, let's go." It was time for the runt to learn a thing or two about being on his own.

"No! No! No! Don't leave me Bulma! Please! Ms. Bulma don't leave me!" Goten was crying furiously into her dress now and holding on for dear life.

Sighing to himself, Gohan grabbed his brother and pried him off of her. "It's ok little brother. Bulma will be right back. Remember when mom used to run errands for a few hours? She always came right back."

"But mama can't come back anymore! I don't want Ms. Bulma to never come back! She can't leave me! Ms. Bulma! Don't leave!" He held out his hands to grasp for her while Gohan held him back and Bulma struggled not to break.

"Mmmmm," she bit her lip and fought with herself. "Maybe I don't have to go….."

"Hey Bulma," suddenly Krillen's hand was on her shoulder. "It's ok. We got him. We can handle this for you, you deserve a night out."

Bulma inhaled and exhaled slowly, then nodded at her friend. "You're right Krillen." She motioned to her husband that she was ready to go. He grabbed her clutch from the couch and she turned to walk with him to the door.

As soon as she had her back to Goten however, he let out a shrill that pierced her right through the heart.

Bulma stopped and turned back around.

"Bulma,"

"No it's ok Vegeta, just give me a few minutes." She all but ran to the screaming child and accepted him in her arms. Goten instantly calmed and Vegeta sighed. "Just…just let me calm him down and then we can…" she didn't want to say it in fear he'd start back up again.

Vegeta just leaned on the back of the sofa.

"It's ok honey, it's ok. I'm right here," Bulma rubbed Goten's back while he caught his breath and the last of his tears spilled on her shoulder. She sat on the couch with him and continued to sooth him.

"Here," Eighteen dug around in her purse for something, then handed it to Bulma. "Why don't you try this?" She passed an MP3 player to the bluenette and over-ear headphones. "Get's the little embryo to simmer down when she's kick-boxing in there, maybe it'll work for him." She said.

Bulma smiled. "Thanks Eighteen."

"She especially likes jazz"

XX

20 minutes of smooth jazz and back rubs had put the young boy right off to sleep. And Gohan too who had secretly not wanted Bulma to leave either, so he sat next to her while she rocked his younger brother to sleep.

Bulma sighed when she looked down at both of the boys, both deep in slumber and still, she could tell neither of them rested comfortably yet. Chi-Chi had just passed eight weeks ago, the wound was still new.

"Bulma?" Krillen was suddenly in front of her, whispering to grab her attention with arms wide open. "It's alright. We've got it from here."

Bulma sighed again and kissed Goten atop his head, then leaned over to kiss Gohan's swollen cheek. "Ok," she said and stood up from the sofa, careful not to disturb the sleeping boys.

"Now if he wakes up, I guess this playlist is good to get him to sleep again. And I have a snack for all of the boys prepped and labeled in the fridge if they want it; you just have to take it out and maybe heat up the milk for Goten."

"We got it B don't worry," Krillen reassured.

"And you know my number right? Call me for anything ok? Even if it seems minute, I'll only be a few minutes away."

"Eh huh," Krillen accepted Goten's sleeping form into his own arms.

"And uhhh, my parents are in the compound on the West Wing. If they need serious medical attention just call my dad until I get here. And make sure Gohan takes his allergy medication. And—"

"Woman!" Vegeta interrupted her rant with a harsh whisper. "Let's go"

Bulma sighed. "Right ok, I'll see you in a few guys. Thank you so much again."

"No problem B. Anytime."

Making their way to the door again—this time ushered by her husband by the small of her back— Bulma stopped and turned around a second time. "Wait," she said. "Where's Trunks?"

Vegeta growled. "He's fine," he drawled. "Now let's go before the runt wakes up again."

X

Hearing the front door open and shut from downstairs, Trunks stopped what he was doing to focus on his parent's energy. Feeling it retreating, he opened his door and trotted downstairs to the foyer.

There he found a sleeping Gohan and Goten, and two of his mom's friends' hanging around with them.

"Where'd my mom and dad go?" he asked.

Krillen looked up, having just placed Goten on the couch, then smiled at Trunks. "Hey there big guy," he talked low so he didn't disturb the sleeping boys. "Your mom and dad went out to a benefit for a few hours."

Trunks looked toward the door. They didn't even say bye to him. While he could expect that kind of behavior from his father, his mother…his mother always said bye to him. Even if she was just going to the grocery store.

Trunks looked to his tear-stained best friend and frowned. He could guess that he was the reason behind that.

"Do you want a snack—"

His was upstairs and back in his room before Krillen could even let out a breath.

X

Trunks had initially thought living with his best friend and Gohan would be great, but it was turning out to be a real disaster. In the beginning he didn't mind so much because Goten was really sad, and he let him play with all of his new toys and hang out with his mother to make him feel better.

But now? Now Trunks was beginning to feel like he was getting the short end of the stick. Goten got _all_ the attention _all_ the time. He was such a cry baby. He's cried from the moment he's arrived here and his mom was always there to cuddle him and make him stop.

He was the subject of just about every conversation. Trunk's mom and dad would talk about what he was doing or what he needed or when Vegeta could start training him. They thought everything he did was great and meanwhile if Trunks tried to do the same thing Vegeta would bat him down about begging for attention for mediocrity.

Just last week, Goten drew a picture of a kitten and Bulma was over the moon, snuggling him with kisses while she framed it and put it on her desk. It was that same day that Trunks had sketched a 3D model for a tree house he wanted to build in the back yard. It was top of the line too with an automated ladder and food dispenser and everything. Bulma had only ruffled his hair and asked him to show it to his grandpa so he could help him build it.

And if Goten wasn't bad enough, when he wasn't eating up all the attention, along came Gohan, hogging up his mom every evening when he laid on her bed and got to chatting with her until it was way passed Trunk's bed time.

She used to come in and tuck him in; kiss him smack dab on his fore head and check his closet for monsters. He would always push her away, and tell her he was stronger than any closet monster but Bulma came in and did it anyway. But not since the boys moved in. She'd been too busy with them and Trunks would lay in his bed in wait, covers pulled up to his chin and eyes on the door.

But that would all change now and Trunks was sure of it. Here in front of him was a college level architectural model and he was almost finished putting it together at the tender age of six. Bulma always seemed to relish in his advanced academic achievements, and if he did extra good, she would take him out for ice cream.

Trunks knew this was just the way to get his mama back and he was going to prove to her, out of the three of them, he was the best son.

XXXXX

Bulma giggled as she fixed her dress for the final time and smoothed her hair, making her way up to the front door.

The benefit had been a great turn-out. Hands were shaken, money was made, and her investors and employees were glad to see she had risen from her grave. She didn't stay for its entirety, A: Knowing that her husband had about a two hour tolerance for a room full of humans and B: She truthfully wanted to be back at home with her boys. But it was nice to get out for a couple hours anyway.

And to cap off the evening, the romp in the car with her husband was especially nice too. It's been awhile since she's done _that_ to him.

Pulling out the keys from his pocket, Vegeta put them to the door and Bulma rested her hand atop of his.

"Hmmm, do we _have_ to go back in?" She snuggled to his strong chest and rested her arms on his shoulders. His bow tie was long gone and the top buttons of his shirt were undone leaving his chiseled chest exposed.

"No," Vegeta smirked, and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I know a place a couple miles from here. What do you say we leave the bald one and the toaster for a night with these demons; see what they're really made of."

Bulma chuckled and playfully slapped him on the chest. "Nooo, we can't do that," she protested, then sighed again. "But I appreciate the thought."

"Hn'"  
Bulma sighed, inhaling the scent of her husband and planting a soft kiss on his lips. Then she whispered to him, "Thanks for…everything Vegeta. I can't do any of it without you."

"I thought I was just the…how do you say, "hot hunk" on your arm?" He raised his eyebrow to her and Bulma laughed.

"You are but…that's not what I meant." Her eyes drifted to the door, indicating what was behind it.

"Hn'" He understood now what she was talking about. It's not every day that one would take in the children of one's greatest adversary but to make his mate happy, Vegeta would do just about anything. A strong emphasis on 'just about' of course.

"C'mon," she finally sighed patting him in reassurance and ushering him to open the door. "Time to face the music."

Opening the door to their home, Bulma had honestly expected to find it in complete chaos. Hell it was in complete chaos when she was there regularly, she didn't expect it to be any different because someone else was watching her kids.

But the house was eerily calm. The foyer had been deserted and the kids, nor Eighteen or Krillen were anywhere in sight. There was no sound of a loud TV, crashes of expensive furniture or door slamming and demands for privacy.

Coming into the house and closing the door behind her, Bulma had wondered for a second if anyone was even home.

"Hello?" she called out to the vastness. "Anyone here—Oh!"

Suddenly, a flash of a tiny child with black hair appeared in front of her and Vegeta, dawning a face full of make-up and a flying cape behind him that flapped in the force of breeze he had created.

"What the hell….."Vegeta had just barely managed to get out and Goten smiled wide.

"Ms. Bulma! You're back!" he cried.

"I am," she said. She was a little too stunned by his done up face to say anything else. The powder was three shades too light, making him look like a baby ghost, and his cheeks were contoured with an even blush that did everything to bring out his big black mascara'd eyes. "What are you doing honey?"

"I'm a superhero!" he said, flexing his muscles. "Just like Gohan and Mr. Vegeta."

Vegeta grimaced. The way the runt was dressed up was practically an insult.

"Oh really?"

Suddenly Eighteen came waddling towards them, huffing and puffing, obviously trying to catch the little one. "My God he's fast," she said, finally stopping to catch her breath. "Hey," she huffed. "Bulma, Monkey boots."

Vegeta glared at the nickname and Goten laughed.

"Sorry about the make-up," she said and walked closer to the trio to untie the cape from Goten's neck. "He woke up and started crying again. When I knocked over my purse, it was the only thing that would make him shut up."

"No, leave it!" Goten said, batting away her hands from his cape. "I wanna show Ms. Bulma my super strength, and how I fly!"

Bulma's eyes lit up. "Oh, he can fly now?"

That's when Krillen entered next. "Not…quite."

XX

When Goten first showed his adoptive parents his attempt at flying Bulma nearly had a heart attack. He had climbed to the top of her tallest bookshelf in the living room, spread his arms out, put his nose to the air, then plummeted to the floor. She honestly thought he lost a couple of teeth.

But the five year old got up, red face full of giggles and began to scale the next piece of furniture so he could do it again. Krillen had already assured her that he, Eighteen and Gohan had thoroughly looked him over after his first flying attempt and the demi-Saijin seemed quite content at coming into contact with the tile floors so he kept at it. At least he wasn't crying.

So while Bulma capped off her evening with her two friends, Goten kept climbing the furniture, and leaping to the ground, hoping his cape would take him to new heights. Occasionally he'd pounce on Vegeta, and the Saijin Prince would throw him into the couch, but this only made Goten press on, labeling Vegeta as the _force of evil_ he was assigned to defeat.

Meanwhile from upstairs, Trunks had heard his parents come home and he was just putting the final touches on his architectural model. He forwent his evening snack and even stayed up later than Gohan (who had passed out after a few swigs of allergy medicine) just to get it done.

And now, here it was. A beautifully crafted model of a modern industrial building he had sketched and put together all on his own. He was so proud. And he knew his mother would be too.

She must be in a good mood if she knew he and Goten were up this late and not ordering them to bed so he decided now would be the best time to show her.

Picking up his model by the platform, Trunks wobbled his heavy project to the door, careful to make sure none of the model trees or patches of grass—which were still drying— came out of place.

"Hey mooooooom!" he called, opening the door with his foot. "Mom! I've got something awesome to show you!"

She didn't answer but he could sense everyone's energy in the living room downstairs so down he went.

"Mom! Mom, you have to look, this is amazing! Look what I built!"

His mom still didn't hear him, and the conversation continued to press on between her and her friends so he figured this would just have to be show and tell for everybody.

"Mom, Mom! Look it, Look what I—"

Everything that happened next happened in slow motion. It was like little Trunks was out of his body and watching it all unfold. There was his mother, content as could ever be, leaning against his father as she regaled the events of her evening to her two friends. They were smiling, she was smiling, even his father was smiling (well smirking rather) as he gave Goten—who had pounced in his lap— a little tickle, then tossed him into the opposing furniture. Goten relished and came back for more, and Vegeta seemed to be happy to give it to him.

No one was concerned about Trunks. No one came up to greet him, to play with him or to tuck him into bed. No one even bothered to ask about his latest project. They were all here, perfectly assembled in their perfect little happiness—without him.

Trunks could feel his cheeks and eyes flush with heat and his ki began to spike.

Feeling the shift in energy, his father had turned to his direction but it was too late.

Goten, having just been launched into the couch again, decided to roll backwards instead of forward, and crashed right into the unsuspecting Trunks, knocking his model to the floor and smashing it on impact.

Trunks felt the breath leave his body. There went all his hard work. Countless hours being holed up in his room, putting this together for his mom, was now looking at him from a couple hundred pieces on the floor.

Snarling for the first time ever in his life, Trunks darkly looked up to his friend whose cheeks flushed with embarrassment. The idiot actually had the nerve to smile at him.

"Oops, sorry Trunks, I didn't see you"

Fume was coming out the young demi's nose.

"Trunks, what was that honey?"

"It's ok Trunks," Goten made a move to pick up the mess on the floor. "I can help you put it back together. I'm a superhero now"

" _Don't_ touch it!" His voice was raw and on edge. Something had sparked inside him that was mean and vengeful and he didn't know what the new feeling was but he knew he had to release it. He pushed his friend to the floor and Goten rolled onto his bottom from the force of the blow.

"Trunks—" Bulma set her drink down on the coffee table and stood to scold her son but Goten reached him first.

Oblivious to his foul mood, Goten began to reach for the scattered pieces again and that's when Trunks really went for it.

Snatching Goten's arm before his fingers could ever touch the model, Trunks brought the demi's arm down on his knee, earning an audible ' _crack_ ' from his victim and a deafening shrill of pain to follow. Trunks was breathing hard; almost glad that he hurt his friend. He needed retribution for his broken model and now his spoiled friend would know what it felt like to hurt.

"Trunks!" Bulma was in utter shock. Sure the boys would play fight and rough house all the time but never had they intentionally hurt one another.

The next few moments were pure pandemonium. Goten was wailing on the floor, arm quickly turning purple, and still on a roll, Trunks picked up a chunk of his model, throwing it into the mantle of the fire place and obliterating it on impact.

"There!" he screamed over the shrill cry of his friend. "You can have the stupid model and give it to your new, stupid, son! If you don't want me, I don't want to be a part of this stupid family anymore!"

"Trunks!" Bulma stepped toward him but her demi-Saijin son was too quick for her. He evaded her grasp easily, and flew toward the door, bursting through it and taking off into the sky.

"Trunks!" she called after him. She knew it was too late, there was no way she could catch him.

Bulma exhaled quickly and surveyed the room. Eighteen and Krillen seemed to be stunned speechless, Goten was now a blubbering mess on the floor, she could hear Gohan stomping quickly down the stairs to see what the commotion was about and Vegeta was enraged, preparing to take off after their son.

Her first instinct took her to Goten, and when she cradled his arm in hers he screamed louder, the pain of moving it feeling much worse than the initial shock.

Bulma felt like crying. All her homey peace came crumbling apart in a mere 5 seconds. "Shit, it's broken," she reported aloud. It was tough to hear amidst Goten's screaming but his visible injuries were quite obvious.

"Broken?! What's broken? Is Goten ok? What happened?" Gohan finally made it to the living room and was in a panic at what he heard at his entry.

"Trunks snapped the little guy's arm like a twig," Krillen said.

"He what?!" Gohan bellowed. He couldn't believe it. The two were best friends. What would make him angry enough to break Goten's arm? "Why would he do that? Where is he? Bulma, we have to take Goten to the hospital."

Bulma scooped Goten up in her arms and looked to her husband for guidance. She was quickly falling apart and didn't know what to do. She had stood there and watched it; watched it with her own eyes and didn't do a thing to stop it. The pressures of mothering 3 half-Saijin boys was becoming to be too much. Bulma was beginning to doubt she had it in her. How could she let something like this happen?

"Vegeta…"

"Take the boy to your medical quarters, I'll go and get the brat," he prepared to take off and Bulma stopped him.

"Vegeta I can't take him to the hospital, they'll call a social worker, and I just filled out the paper work. I can't…." she could feel the tears springing to her eyes. Goten's crying was not making it any better. In an insurmountable bout of pain, drool was dribbling down his mouth as he cried and let his broken arm hang from his body like a rag.

"Hey," Krillen offered. "We have some senzu beans back at the house. Why don't you bring him there and we'll patch him up for you?"

Absentmindedly, Bulma nodded and the group headed for the door. When she turned back to look for her husband, he had already taken off.

XXXX

Finding his son wasn't difficult. Not only was his ki still blaring with hot anger but he retreated to a place Vegeta had shown him not long ago. It was a little cove off shore of a lake on the outskirts of the city. Vegeta had taken him fishing there last year as long as Trunks promised not to tell anyone about it. Trunks had since deemed it their secret spot and when he took off in the sky for a fly, he always landed here.

Touching down at the entrance to the cave, he found his lavender-haired offspring, leaning against a rock, tossing a smaller rock against the opposing wall until it bounced back to him. His was pouting angrily and didn't bother to look in his father's direction when Vegeta arrived.

Vegeta waited a moment, letting him huff it out before he chose to speak. "You know my father used to have a saying. If you're capable of breaking, you should know what it feels to be broken."

Trunks held out his hand, still using the other to pounce the rock on the wall. "Go ahead," he still didn't look in his father's direction. "I don't care."

Vegeta's eyebrows shot up in surprise. The little brat was pretty ballsy. He guessed he could thank his gene pool for that. "Hn', like you didn't care about breaking your best friend's arm?"

Trunks stopped tossing the rock and now glared at his father. "Why are you even here?" he spat. "We both know you don't want to be"

"You're right I don't. I'd rather be in my bed. And yet," Vegeta outstretched his arms. "Here we are"

"Well go home to your precious bed. You don't have to pretend you want to be having this conversation with me."

By his next breath Trunks found himself pressed up against the hard wall and glaring black orbs boring holes in his blue ones, snarling in his face just as he had done to his friend earlier.

"I'm giving you _one_ free pass to ignore the childish and crass remarks that just came from your sniveling mouth boy. But don't think for a second I'd be kind enough to do it again. I _dare_ you to speak to me in that manner once more."

He was surprised at first, Trunks hadn't seen his father coming but once he regained his composure, he glared right back.

"Let me go!" he said, clawing at his father's hands but Vegeta had a firm grip on his shirt.

"Make me"

After a few more moments of struggling, Vegeta dropped his son to the floor and the boy was back to his feet in seconds, still glaring at his father.

"I hate that you do this to me dad" Still in fuming anger, he pushed at his father's legs but he went nowhere.

" _I_ did this to _you_ —"

"You don't care about _anything_ if it's not training or becoming stronger than Goten's dad and he's not even alive anymore! You barely even know that I am!"

"I—"

"And now you have Gohan to train with, and he's a lot stronger and better, so why do I even matter to you?"

"Is that what this is all about?"

"Dad, I'm not stupid. I know the only reason you came out here is because you're the only one fast enough to catch me and because mom makes you. But if she didn't you wouldn't blink twice in my direction. You never have." His final words fell out in remorse. Partly because he wished he hadn't said them and partly because he knew it was true.

Vegeta just stared at his son, unsure of what to say next. He had seen the rage in Trunks' eyes before he broke his best friend's arm and he knew exactly where that rage came from. The pit at the bottom of his stomach refused him to deny it.

And at his son's words Vegeta couldn't help but wonder if the neglect at the beginning of his son's life had now translated to a disaster of hatred and anger that had manifested the same way in Vegeta when he was a young boy. Was this the cost of priming a warrior? Becoming the same merciless abhorrent killer he had once been?

"Just tell mom you talked to me, and I'll take my punishment in the morning." All the anger was gone from Trunks' voice now and he was sullen and somber, hanging his head low to the ground so his father couldn't see his tears. He pushed passed his father and took off to the sky, leaving behind a speechless Prince.

XXX

Dealing with a demi-Saijin with a broken arm had proved to be more than Bulma could handle.

Upon arriving at the remote island with Goten still howling in pain, Bulma had insisted that they wrap Goten's arm first, so his injuries would heal properly. Goten however wasn't sold on the idea, as any contact with his broken arm had already proven to be a painful one so he first pushed Bulma out of the way and made a mad dash for the door.

Finding he was on a very small, very remote island and he couldn't fly away, he was quickly cornered by Gohan who picked him up with ease and brought him back into the house.

He kept crying and thrashing, and refused to sit still for Bulma, pushing her down twice more until Gohan and Krillen were finally able to hold him still enough so she could wrap him. Then came the senzu bean which he was afraid to eat. They tried putting it in bread, water, cheese, cookies, nothing made the young demi take it.

Bulma could feel the tears brimming her eyes at what a disaster this had become. This was all her fault. These children were her responsibility now and one was a bully, the other had a broken arm and the last a red swollen face.

Bulma's breathing began to hitch and suddenly the room felt crowded and hot.

Before she burst into tears in front of the others, she burst through the front door instead and leaned against the side of the house to catch her breath.

Her sudden exit of course only caused Goten to shrill louder and at his screams, Bulma slid to the floor and began to sob.

How had her life gotten out of hand so quickly? She was a bold adventurer and a genius, why was raising three kids proving to be so difficult? Chi-chi had made it look like a synch and yet here she was, barely able to keep hazardous foods off the table from Gohan. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this after all. Maybe the boys would be better off with someone else.

"Bulma?"

"Go away Krillen," she sniffled hard and cupped her ears when she heard Goten scream again. "I can't….I can't do this! Look what happened, the boys….Trunks and Gohan. I just….I'm not fit for this."

"Hey, hey, what are you talking about?" Krillen helped his friend up from the floor. "Of course you are. Goku and Chi-Chi would never leave their kids to you if you weren't."

"Look what happened tonight Krillen, this is all my fault. If I had just checked on Trunks when I came through the door…none of this would have ever happened."

"You don't know that, Trunks could have been harboring that anger for a while now. He is Vegeta's son after all, he's bound to combust."

Through her sobs, a small chuckle burst through. "Still, I should have known. I should have known what was wrong with him."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. No parent is perfect. Take it from the book I'm reading: _No parent is perfect_."

"Chi-Chi was," Bulma said remorsely, and looked to the ground as her tears tapped the sand below. "Krillen I miss her _so_ much," he placed a hand on her shoulder while she began to sob again. "And she _always_ knew what to do; she always knew how to handle the boys. And I just feel like," she sighed hard. "I feel like I'm failing them."

"Bulma, you're _not_ failing them. They love you"

Bulma sniffed. "My son snapped Goten's arm in two and my mother tried to off Gohan with banana bread. I'm pretty sure Piccolo could take better care of them; and he's not very fond of Goten."

Krillen laughed. "Hey c'mon, Chi-Chi went through the same thing you're going through. Didn't she ever tell you about the time Goku broke Gohan's leg?"

Bulma's eyebrows rumpled together. "No. When did this happen?"

"Eh, when he was about 5 or so, about the same age as Goten actually. Goku and I were training and Gohan had wondered in the middle of our training field and right in front of me as Goku came down for a pretty hard kick. Needless to say he didn't hit me and when Chi-Chi found out she was in tears because she hadn't even realized Gohan had wondered away to look for his dad."

Bulma simmered in this for a moment.

"She thought she wasn't cut out to raise a Saijin child either."

Bulma now looked him in the eyes. "She never told me about that."

"I guess she never told anyone. I mean when you think about it, Gohan was the first demi-Saijin and raising him was new to all of us. She and Goku didn't know what he was capable of simply because he was a different kid; everything was wait and see. And even though it was an accident, I figure breaking your own child's leg was still pretty embarrassing and she didn't want anyone to think she wasn't fit to raise her own son. So she made Goku and I swear to secrecy. That and you know from then on out she had a Hawke's eye on poor Gohan."

Bulma chuckled. That was Chi-Chi alright.

"And you know what the best part was?"

"Hmmm?"

"As soon as we got a cast on him, poor Gohan forgot about the whole thing. His dad was his best friend, he could never be angry with him, even if he hurt him unintentionally." Bulma finally smiled.

"If that little guy inside is anything like Goku, he'll forget about it the moment you give him something to eat. I promise."

Now she laughed. "Oh Krillen," she reached down to give her friend a hug. "Thank you. That's exactly what I needed to hear."

"Hey, don't mention B." He hugged her back. "And don't doubt yourself. You're doing a great job. Raising any kid is gonna' come with its ups and downs. I guess, raising a couple of Saijin boys might come with a few more…"

"Downs?"

"Well, I was gonna go for unexpected plot twists" Bulma smiled again. "You're doing great with them and they need you. Don't give up on them now."

Her cellphone beeped before she could reply back, and when she looked at the screen she saw a cryptic text from her husband (since it was the only way he fangled with the small contraption).

 _Home. Boy took off to fancy hotel. Did not want to speak to me_.

Bulma sighed. Now she had another fire to put out. Vegeta, if he absolutely had to text, usually did so in 10 characters or less. But because he chose to say more and because his last sentence was unusually overshared, she knew something was brewing between her two men.

"Looks like Trunks might need me first," she said aloud.

"Of course," Krillen said. "Go ahead, we'll take care of Goten and I'll fly the both of them home."

Bulma looked back toward the door where Goten was still crying from behind it. "You sure?"

"Yeah," he said. "We've got um."

Bulma hugged her friend again. "Thank you so much Krillen. And tell Eighteen thanks also," she pulled a capsule from her purse and tossed it to the ground. "I owe you guys big for this."

"Aw, just get Eighteen an awesome baby shower gift and we'll call it even"

XXXXX

When Trunks was two and half he began asking questions about his father and why the muscled man walking around Capsule Corp wouldn't pay him any attention. It was then that Bulma gave her then long-standing boyfriend an ultimatum, either get with the program or get lost.

Vegeta had no idea what communicating with a toddler entailed so he spoke to him the only way he knew how; through the gravity room.

When Trunks was three he was socked for the first time by his father during said training and at the time he translated the hit to a hit of hate so he packed up two of his toys and his favorite pair of overalls and took off for a better life.

Not really knowing the directions to Goten's house or having anywhere else to go, he retreated to Capsule Towers, a five star resort hotel owned by his mother and grandfather, and demanded the concierge take him to the penthouse his mother reserved for the Briefs family. Following the order of the toddler and having the common sense to call his mother, a frantic Bulma—who had been searching for hours for her son—found him in the master suite with a tub of ice cream, sobbing his eyes out because his daddy hated him.

He has since "ran away" to the penthouse a couple times more when he was in serious trouble at school or when he thought last year that Bulma and Vegeta were getting divorced.

Bulma had to admit, without having the other two around, Trunks was a handful all on his own but he was her handful and since Vegeta was no good at wise words of comfort, she took pride in knowing that this was her specialty.

When she used her master key to enter the penthouse suite, again it was quiet. The last time Trunks was up here the TV was blaring and there were empty room service carts all around the room but this time it was dark.

Bulma listened carefully as she closed the door behind her for any traces of her son.

A faint sniffling caught her attention from off in a distance and she followed it to the master suite.

There in the middle of the bed she found her flesh and blood, huddled in the fetal position in a shirt that was too big crying it out on the California King in the middle of the room.

"Oh honey," she was instantly at his side, and scooped him up in her arms so he could let it out safely in her embrace. Trunks was used to pushing her away. He adopted the attitude from his father that Saijins don't need soft attention. But this time he gave way and let her hug him, and softly stroke his hair and kiss his hot forehead.

"I didn't mean to break his arm mom," he cried into her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I was just mad."

"I know baby, I know," she just continued to stroke him, and continued to rock him, embracing him tighter if it was at all possible.

Finally Trunks looked up at her, his blue eyes puffy and brimmed with salty tears. "Mom, please don't kick me out of the family. I know I said I didn't want to be a part of it anymore but I didn't mean it, and I know Gohan and Goten need you more but I need you too mom, and I just wanted you and dad to notice me some and love me like you love Gohan and Goten."

"Hey, hey, hey," she cupped her son's cheeks to get him to slow down. "Trunks, of course we love you, you're our first born. There's nothing you can do that would make us want to get rid of you. I'm sorry bud but you're stuck with us forever."

Trunks smiled amidst his sadness and leaned back into his mother's touch. "Mama," he breathed and she kissed his temple.

"Trunks, I'm so sorry honey." He looked up at her again, this time surprised. He hadn't been expecting that. "I just…" she sighed. "Mommy was very sad when Ms. Chi-chi died and it turned my world upside down. That and having Gohan and Goten move in and need me so much right away just put me in auto-pilot. I guess I just figured….I assumed that you would be able to handle all the changes so I didn't stop to talk to you honey and I should have."

Tears now ceased, Trunks leaned back into his mother's chest. "It's ok mama," he said. "I know you do your best. And I still love you."

Bulma kissed both of his cheeks. "And I love you. So very much," she hugged him again. "I'd go to the moon and back for you."

"Just the moon mom?"

Bulma giggled. "Alright, maybe planet Namek or somewhere." Now Trunks smiled.

"So I guess…" he twiddled his thumbs. "I guess we have to go home now? And I have to forfeit all of my toys?" He looked to the ground in shame.

Bulma sighed and leaned back on her hands, her son still in her lap. "Well, maybe we can talk punishment in the morning." Trunks blue eyes lit up wide with hope. "For now, what do you say to a movie and some chocolate ice cream, just the two of us?"

"Yeah!"

"And you can tell me all about that model you built"

Trunks beamed. "Sure mom, but uhhh…" he nervously twiddled his thumbs again. "First can you do something for me?"

"Sure baby"

"Can you check the closet for monsters?"

Bulma smiled and winked at him. And for the rest of the night, she stayed right where she was needed, with the only boy she's ever loved at first sight.

XXX

 _Epilogue_

Bulma and Trunks made it back to Capsule Corp the following morning to a homey home. Her mother had obviously been around, cleaning until the home was spotless and whipping up a delicious breakfast which the boys had just finished.

"Ms. Bulma!" Goten was the first to greet them, running to the door and sliding in his socks on the clean floor. "You're back! I missed you Ms. Bulma!" he hugged her legs and Bulma smiled and patted his head.

"I missed you too big guy."

Goten smiled and released her. "Hey Trunks, lookie! Your Grandpa gave me an orange cast! It matches my gi!"

Trunks blinked back at his friend in surprise. Was this some kind of joke? He had returned less than 24 hours after breaking his friend's arm and here he was, smiling in his face about it.

"Uhhhhh, yeah pretty cool," he said. "Hey listen Goten," he pulled his friend a few steps away from his mother. "I'm really sorry for you know…breaking your arm. And pushing you. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't mean it Trunks, it's ok!" Goten smiled. He seemed oblivious to all the emotional turmoil that was last night and just happy to have everyone in the same house again. "Plus, your grandma gave me extra pancakes this morning and gave me a kiss on my cast. Maybe if you break my leg, I'll get even _more_ pancakes!"

Bulma nervously laughed. "Orrrr maybe this will be your last broken limb. Ever."

Trunks grinned. "Cool so, still friends?"

"Friends" Goten gave him a thumbs up.

Gohan was next to join them in the foyer. "Hey Bulma, hey Trunks, you made it back."

"My, my, look at you, aren't you just the most handsome boy." Bulma winked at him. The swelling had finally receded on the teens' face and he was back to looking normal.

Gohan blushed. "Yeah, Krillen had an extra senzu bean and Eighteen wouldn't let me fly away until I took it. Vegeta wasn't happy about it but I'm glad to look normal again."

Bulma chuckled. "Speaking of Vegeta, where is he?"

"Oh, he's upstairs sleeping"

"Sleeping?!" That was odd. Bulma was almost certain he'd report that he was in his precious gravity room. It was almost 11 am. Vegeta _never_ slept in.

"Yeah, that's what I said. He didn't even come down for breakfast. He was up until early this morning tinkering with something and he yelled at me when I knocked on the door so I just left him."

"Hmmmm, better make sure he's ok," Bulma muttered to herself. "Trunks?"

The demi-sighed. "Yeah I know, I know. Straight to my room." His month long punishment was to begin immediately.

Trudging up the stairs and to his room, the young prince sighed and dropped his bag to the floor, closing the door behind him. He was just about to plop to his bed and begin dreaming of the essay his mother ordered him to write about "respecting others" when his architectural model stared at him from atop his desk.

Trunks stopped, did a double take, then looked back at the model. It looked just as it did last night before he smashed it, save a few minor cracks which were smoothed out to be put back together.

"What the…."

How did this happen? Trunks all but disintegrated his model last night in his furious rage. Was this some sort of self-healing model that put itself back together?

He approached the model, almost scared it would get up and start talking to him like those cartoons about transforming robots he saw on TV.

But instead of a voice there was a note. And in his father's chicken scratch for Earth script read:

 _Maybe we can build the next one together._

XXX

Voila! Please review!


	4. Cowards have the Meanest Hook

You like me more than a Hamster right?

Cowards have the meanest hook

I of course own nothing, including 'The Raven' by the great Sir Poe.

XXXX

 _1.5 years post move into Capsule Corp_

The gravity room had been set to 200 times gravity. Not a usual preference for an ever-evolving Prince but since the children were present, he'd have to settle.

Bulma gravely promised she'd brake his neck if he ever broke Trunk's again (seeing as the last time was number 11 or 12…he honestly didn't keep track) and Vegeta had to admit, he was a little afraid she was serious this time.

So he placed the GR at a puny setting and challenged the brats to a 3 to 1 fight. Gohan of course, being the strongest of the three was able to lunge at Vegeta no problem but the other two were having a bit of difficulty moving around.

Trunks, having trained with his father before in stronger gravity, was able to move but as soon as he lunged an attack, he got winded and fell to the floor. Whilst he took about 10 minutes to recover each time, he relied on his friend Goten who was struggling to even stand up. He was still in the midst of his flying lessons, so his wobbly balance in the air was out of the question.

It took him 22 minutes to move from crushed-to-the-floor to downward dog, and another 24 to stand up right. Now came the task of walking.

"C'mon! Get up you two lazy runts!" Vegeta yelled while dodging a punch from Gohan and kneeing him in the stomach. He kicked the teen to the floor who was back on his feet in seconds.

Gohan was strong but his technique was sloppy. The Prince blamed it on his late mother's propensity to keep him indoors and in books, and his grief over the loss of his parents. He lost majority of his focus for fighting right after his father died but he was the only candidate worth a good spar so the Prince pushed to get him back on track.

Trunks meanwhile groaned from the floor. "I'm…not…lazy!" he huffed, getting back in an upright position.

"Then prove it! Gohan is making you both look like mules from where I'm standing!"

"What's a mule?"

Goten's question was never answered. As the demi took his third step in the GR Gohan and Trunks both lunged for Vegeta at the same time, Trunks being batted to the other side of the GR with ease, and Gohan lasting about 90 seconds before he too was wall décor.

Vegeta smirked and wiped imaginary sweat from his eyebrow.

"You're making this too easy brat" he addressed Gohan who was back to his feet and smirked himself.

"Don't blink"

A flash of gold blinded the Saijin Prince and the young demis for a moment before Gohan came at Vegeta again.

Happy to have a real challenge, Vegeta transformed himself, meeting the teen's furious blows toe-for-toe. "C'mon!" He screamed at the other two. "This is three to one, not a bloody date between the two of us. Get up!"

"I….he….take it away Gohan," Trunks huffed from his spot on the floor. "You got this" He held a thumbs up to the teen.

"Pathetic," Vegeta bit out. "And to think I call you my son."

Trunks only rolled his eyes and fought falling asleep. Something about the pressure of gravity on his body always put the sleeper on him.

"And what about you?" his attention was now on Goten. "You gonna move or prove to me that you're still a runt?"

Goten frowned. "I'm not a runt!" he defended, taking another step.

"Well than get the hell up!" Landing a punch to Gohan's cheek and then a roundhouse kick to the other side, Gohan flashed behind the Prince to get him back but Vegeta only threw him over his shoulder and to the ground.

The Prince chuckled. "Only 3rd class cowards let their opponents attack family," he sneered.

Something within Goten sparked as Gohan was back to his feet. He didn't know what it was. He was usually unfazed by Vegeta's cruel remarks partly because he didn't understand them. But teasing he and his brother as they were both on the ground sent him into over drive and his eyes flashed green.

"No one hurts my brother!"

Suddenly finding a burst on energy within himself Goten launched in the air for the Prince. Vegeta was actually stunned for a moment, but he quickly dodged the chibi's manic attack and sent the kid hurdling to the floor.

The tile cracked on impact and Goten immediately yelped in pain.

"Goten!"

Gohan was ready to lunge at Vegeta again but his brother had shot up and fell back down in a matter of seconds, he barely had time to process what was happening.

Immediately shutting off the gravity, Gohan ran to his younger brother's side.

"Are you ok little brother?" he picked him up from the crater he created on the tile and scooped him in his lap.

"You didn't have to hit him that hard Vegeta!" Gohan sneered at his counterpart who only rolled his eyes and descended to the floor.

"He didn't have to be that weak either," he retorted.

"Owie Gohan," Goten complained, holding his head. "I think my head broke," he fought back the tears, knowing Vegeta would tease him more if he cried.

Gohan inspected his younger brother. There was a mean looking knot on his forehead, but nothing alarming. Thankfully he wasn't banged up too bad.

"You can't break your head Goten," Gohan informed. "When you have a head injury, it's called a concussion."

"Oh. Well I think I have one of those then." Gohan touched the bruise and Goten's eyes lit up in shock.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Don't touch my concussion Gohan!"

Gohan chuckled. "You'll be ok. C'mon, let's go get you some ice."

"Does that make the concussion better?"

"All the time"

Taking his younger brother's hand in his, the teen opened the door to the gravity chamber. "Catch ya later Vegeta," he said and the Prince turned his back to the brothers.

He looked at the clock. "Two hours," he said to himself. "Barely enough to break a sweat."

Hearing a snore, Vegeta whipped around to the other side of the gravity room to find his son sleeping peacefully while still leaning upside on the wall where he had fallen.

His father growled. "Wake up you moron!" he yelled, stomping his foot to cause a thunderous boom in the hallow room. "Do I bore you that much!?"

Trunks shot to his feet and danced around. "Ah! Ah! What, what happened? I'm here dad!"

Vegeta snarled. "Just get out!"

XXXX

After spending his usual eight hours in the gravity room, Vegeta finally exited that evening finding he missed dinner. Because he wasted two hours this morning with the brats, he made up for it with his usual eight hour session but it clocked him out at 8 in the evening rather than 6.

The lack of food was beginning to put the Prince in a foul mood. He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. So since he was feeling antsy, as usual this was the opportune moment to bother Bulma.

Walking past the kitchen and into the living room, the Prince found the three boys, huddled around the big screen with an usually large tub of ice cream being passed around between them.

Gohan appeared to be babysitting, half texting on his ludicrous cell phone, half keeping Trunks and Goten from killing each other over the tub of ice cream.

"Quit it Trunks you're eating all the chocolate chips!"

"We already went over this Goten. You get the gummy bears, and I get the chocolate chips."

"Well I want some chocolate chips now! You should be nice to me, I got a concussion."

"For the love of God, you don't have a concussion now move your spoon!"

"Ow, don't hit me!"

"Hey!" Gohan put down his phone and snatched the tub of ice cream from the two boys. "If you guys keep fighting I'm going to fly away and eat all of the ice cream myself."

"Nooooooo," Goten instantly sat down patiently to show he was on his best behavior.

"Orrrrrr, fly away and eat it with Videllllll" Trunks sang.

Gohan blushed. "Hey, leave Videl out of this" Trunks began making kissing noises and finding it funny, Goten joined in too.

"Videl and Gohan sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" They both sang in unison.

"Stop it! I mean it! I'll take the ice cream." But his threats fell on deaf ears.

"Hey! Brats!"

The boys stopped their ritualistic dancing around Gohan at Vegeta's voice.

"Where's your mother?"

"Uhhhh, I think she's still in the lab dad," Trunks answered. "She said she had some more work to finish."

"Hn'" Vegeta left the room and once he was gone, he heard the kissing noises and singing again.

"Stop it!"

XXXX

Walking down to his wife's lab, Vegeta punched in the necessary codes and slid open the door in search of her. The place was a hazardous mess as usual and his wife was somewhere in the middle of it.

Stepping inside he found that her chaotic desk was sinking with papers but she was no where within it which must of meant she was tinkering with something.

The sound of metal against metal and her frustrated groans told him he was right.

"Gahhhh!"

He followed the sound of her voice to find her in a corner, under a rather large machine, only to slide out when oil spilled on her cheek.

"Damn, piece of junk!" she cursed to herself, kicking the machine as she reached for a towel.

"Well you made the damn thing, so now who's the junk?"

Half startled, Bulma turned to find her husband standing behind her, and then glared at his insult.

" _I'm_ a genius, some half-baked idiot broke this crap and now _I_ have to fix it." She gave her husband a pointed look.

"Hn' I don't remember using this contraption" he said lamely.

"Of course you don't," she sighed, wiping the final remnants of oil from her face. There was still a smear left of her cheek but she'd get it later in the shower. "What do you want Vegeta?" she checked her watch. "Isn't it your turn to get the boys showered and into bed?"

Vegeta stiffened. "For the last time, I am _not_ watching anyone else's child strip and wash his own body. You and these sickening Earth customs defy my authority."

Bulma giggled. "Aww but you get them to bed so fast when you do it."

"That's cause I shut off the water if they're not out in 5 minutes"

She giggled again. "Your poor son, he isn't used to such standards of living."

"That's because you spoil the hell out of him." Bulma shrugged and a brief silence fell between them before the Prince spoke again. "Where's my dinner woman?"

She gave him a retort snort before chucking her wrench on an already crowded table. "Now look who's spoiled. You missed it bub. Go in the refrigerator and dig out the left overs."

"I'm the Prince of all Saijins, I should not be expected to prepare my own food."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Oh, give it a rest already. Vegeta, your planet died like 80 years ago, you're just a civilian like everyone else and you can use a microwave."

She turned around from him and Vegeta caught her arm, pulling her against his rock hard chest. "You dare speak to your Prince in that manner woman?" There was a husk in his voice and Bulma smiled, knowing where this was going. After so many years of dating and marriage, she knew her husband's threats for back talk had turned from threats of death to a good romp around the bedroom.

"Oh, woe is me, poor little she-woman, how ever will I be punished?"

"I'll just have to eat you for dinner instead."

"Ooooh, I like the sound of that." Vegeta captured her neck, beginning to prep the spot where he had marked her as his own, and she in turn slipped off his gloves so she could feel his hands. He kissed and nipped at her neck, while sliding off her dirty sweater.

Bulma sighed with pleasure and wrapped her arms around his own neck, using her teeth to nip his ear while he rubbed her from atop her undershirt.

Vegeta groaned when her teeth nibbled at his lobe. "You know that drives me crazy woman"

She giggled. "I know, that's why I like to do it."

He smirked, now taking her chin in his hands and looking her dead in her blue pools. "You live to defy me."

"But it's worked out so well thus far, wouldn't you say?" He captured her in a kiss and Bulma pressed her body closer to his.

Feeling her bra-less chest, pressed against his, Vegeta prepped to take her undershirt off when the energy suddenly shifted in the room.

He stopped moving.

"Hey, why'd you—"

"Oh there you are Bulma," Her father suddenly entered the room, puffing away at his pipe and twitching his mustache with kitty on his shoulder. He looked his daughter dead in the eyes and if she wasn't locked pelvis to pelvis with her husband.

"I wanted to ask you about that prototype we built yesterday, have you seen it anywhere?"

"It's uhhhhh, probably in one of the capsules dad," she responded. She was mildly embarrassed but she had gotten used to her parents lack of boundaries long ago. When her mother had asked her, while she was in the midst of giving birth to Trunks if she could feel Trunk's tail, she knew then that there was no stopping them.

The flushed heat from Vegeta's body however told her he still wasn't used to it.

"Oh alright dear, I'll go and look for it. My office is such a mess though I can't find anything in there. You know I think it's high time I hired a secretary. You're far too busy now to keep track of my things like you used to. Oh but you did such a wonderful job honey, I don't know if I can find anyone well enough to replace you. There is this darling young girl at the coffee shop your mother visits, perhaps I can speak with her. Oh and Bulma don't forget we have a meeting with those new young tech gurus this week. I'd like to bring prototype B-4457 if we can. Do you know if that's finished? I asked Gus down in engineering but he didn't seem to know what I was talking about—"

"Dad?" Bulma stopped her father, still looked in arms with her husband while listening to his rambling. "Could we maybe finish this later? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

Dr. Briefs twitched his mustache. "Oh yes, yes of course," he took another puff of his pipe. "Don't let me stand in your way; it's time for my tea and evening news anyway." Thankfully, he finally began to shuffle out. "And hey, Trunks is turning eight soon isn't he? When am I going to get that granddaughter?"

Vegeta choked and Bulma paled. "Bye dad!" She pulled from her husband to shove her father out and slam the door.

Leaning against the door Bulma sighed, "Bedroom?"

XXX

On their way upstairs from the lab the couple was all over each other but as soon as they hit the residence floor, Bulma could sense trouble.

She heard laughter, crying, stomping feet and the click of high heels which meant her mother was attempting to bathe the boys and she was failing…miserably. Reaching the top of the stairs, Bulma looked both ways to see if the coast was clear.

"Ok, on the count of three you pick me up and fly like thunder to our bedroom and lock the door behind you."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "This is ridiculous, why don't you just ignore them?"

Bulma snorted. "Uh hello, have you met our children? That is physically impossible. Besides, don't get haughty with me because you can't instant transmission like Goku. Then we'd never be in this mess."

Vegeta stopped to give his wife a cold stare. That one hit below the belt. "You're obviously itching for me to kill you"

"Shh! I think they're on the other side of the hallway. Now let's go before my mother—"

"Bulma! Oh Bulma! There you are!" Long strides of high-heels clicked down the hallway.

"….finds us"

"Bulma honey, I need your help," Bunny pleaded.

"Mooooom," Bulma groaned. "Now is not a good time, Vegeta and I—"

"Oh but Bulma dear, Trunks scared Goten into thinking he can get sucked down the drain again and now he won't get back in the bath tub."

Bulma sighed. She loved her mother to death and she always came in handy for watching the boys when she was in a pinch, but one thing she was no good at, was putting a stern foot down.

She looked back at her husband who was waiting patiently for this all to be over, glistening in sweat like a God in his skin tight training armor. Sweat gathered in places it shouldn't and Bulma wanted her own shower to cleanse herself… with her husband there of course.

"Where's Gohan?" she asked pathetically.

"Oh he's talking to that sweet girl from school; I didn't want to bother him."

Bulma groaned and stomped up the final stair, marching down the hallway. Vegeta followed.

"Boys!" she shouted.

"Mommy Bulma! Mommy Bulma! Mommy Bulma!" a flash of nakedness zipped down the hallway before attaching to her legs and burying his face in her shins. "Mommy Bulma make him stop!"

She barely had time to register he was naked before her equally naked son came stomping down the hallways like a giant with a bubble beard around his chin pretending he was a monster. "Fee-Fie-Foe-Fum! I'm the drain monster and I have a craving for Goten Son!"

Goten shrieked and scaled Bulma like a tree until he was in her arms, cowering with fear.

Bulma fought to catch up with the scene in front of her, wondering why there were bubbles and water all up and down the hallway, and why she was holding a naked butt in her arms.

"Trunks cut that out!" Was the first thing she said to recover. "Goten honey, for the last time, you can't get sucked down the drain baby."

"Yes you can! Trunks said it happened to Jimmy at school and that's why his face droops to the side, cause of the suction."

Bulma stared flatly at her son who only slapped his knee and laughed at his own antics.

"Goten honey….you can't…wh—….why are you both naked? And dripping wet?"

"Uhhh, cause we were just in the bath mom, Duh" Trunks retorted. "Plus," Trunks put his hands on his hips. "I like being naked, the breeze feels good" he said with a proud smile.

Bulma sighed. Vegeta had warned her that her habit of being an exhibitionist would come back to haunt her. Apparently it had manifested in her son.

"Well the two of you need to finish up your bath and clean up my hallway pronto!" she ordered and set Goten on the floor. "And put some clothes on after your bath."

"But mommy Bulma, the drain monster," Goten protested and held onto her pant leg.

"Goten honey—"

That's when Gohan exited his room, thankfully dressed, and towel drying the last drops of water from his hair.

"Gohan will protect you!" Bulma suddenly cried.

Gohan looked up, his face confused. Bulma walked the young chibi over to his older brother and placed his little hand in Gohan's big one. "Gohan will protect you from the drain monster. He's really strong you know, he's the one who beat cell."

"You will Gohan?"

The teen sighed. " _Not this again_ " he thought. "Yeah little guy, I'll protect you."

"Ok! Let's go! We'll show that drain monster who's boss!"

"Unlesssssssssss," Trunks began to sing. "You know the drain monster can turn super Saijin too?"

"He can?!"

"Trunks!" all the adults yelled in unison.

XXX

When the couple finally reached their room Bulma wasted no time pouncing on her husband. He hadn't expected her to jump on him like that but he gladly caught her and the two of them fell to the bed.

"Finally," she said in between kisses. "All alone"

"Hn'" Vegeta fought with the button of her jeans. "Take these damn contraptions off woman. Your Earth clothing is impractical and stupid."

Bulma chuckled. "You weren't complaining about those other jeans I had on Saturday"

Vegeta smirked. He remembered those jeans. While he wasn't happy she was prancing around her lab in them for her entire corporation to see, he appreciated the way she bent over in them, just for him.

"That one I'll make an exception for," Bulma smiled and stole his lips for another kiss.

Unbuttoning her jeans Bulma allowed her husband to slide them off her hips while he kicked off his boots.

"Hn'" he said once he got a look at her undergarments. "What happened to the one with the string that I like?" he asked. Bulma scoffed, staring down at her frilly, bikini styled panties.

"Unguhhh, I don't wear thongs all the time Vegeta. Plus, it's laundry day"

Vegeta scoffed in return. "Well if you're stripping in front of me you should."

Bulma slapped him on the chest and he slapped her ass in return causing her to squeak. Her face instantly flushed and she grinned devilishly at him. "You little bastard"

"Well its worked so well this far, wouldn't you say?"

She only kissed him again.

 _Knock, Knock, Knock_

"Bulma?"

The couple froze, maybe it wasn't what they were truly hearing, maybe it was their imagination.

 _Knock, Knock, Knock_

"Bulma, you in there?"

From atop her husband, Bulma held her head down in defeated shame.

"Just don't answer him," Vegeta whispered. "He'll go away"

"No he won't he can sense us in here"

"Bulma, I kind of need your help with something."

The heiress sighed. "If the kids are injured or dead Gohan, don't worry about it, we'll take care of it in the morning."

"No it's not that its….its kind of personal."

"Like personal this has to be dealt with now? Or personal it can wait about 15 minutes?" From his spot below her Vegeta gave his wife another cold stare. " _Yep, when I'm done with her, I'm gonna kill her._ "

"Yes," came the teens voice from behind the door, along with his retreating footsteps.

"5…4…3…2…1"

"No, Bulma I kind of have to take care of it now"

Giving up and rolling off of Vegeta, Bulma snatched her jeans and hauled them on before hauling open her door.

"Yes?" she said in a huff.

"Heh…heh…hey Bulma," he nervously rubbed behind his head, just like his father. "Sooo uhhh, I umm…you?"

"Out with it Gohan, I'm kinda busy here."

"Right, um, you wouldn't happen to have 20 dollars I could borrow would you?"

Bulma's eyes flattened. "20 dollars?" she asked. "That's the big emergency?"

Gohan twiddled his pointer fingers trying to hide behind them. "Right well um I've been putting all my allowance into my savings account which I can't access without you present since it's a joint account and the bank is closed and me and Videl were going to go catch a movie but I don't have any money to buy her a ticket."

The heiress sighed again. "Gohan, haven't you ever heard of a checking account?"

"Ummm, yeah but I thought those were just for checks."

She shook her head. "You know, for being such a smart kid, you really are naïve sometimes."

The eldest Son boy smiled.

"Here," digging in her pocket, Bulma fished out a wad of hundreds and handed two to the boy in front of her. "Go see a movie, buy her all the popcorn in the world and enjoy yourself."

"Oh but Bulma, I don't need this much money—"

"No, I insist, keep the change. Go out and take the world by storm, just don't come back for at least an hour ok?"

From his position on the bed Vegeta smirked. " _That's more like it_ "

"Ummm ok…everything ok in there?" Gohan asked.

"Oh honey…." He really was naïve, she's surprised he hasn't connected the dots yet. "You just keep being you ok? Don't let those schools girls taint your sweet little innocent heart. I know that's what your mom would want." Gohan barely had time to ask what she was talking about before Bulma slammed the door in his face.

"Phew, that was close."

Vegeta smirked. "A couple hours huh?"

"Ummmm, I said _one_ hour your royal majesty"

"Better make it count then," he held out his arms to accept her and Bulma was about to pounce right in.

"Moooooooooommmmmmmmm!"

Bulma almost shrieked and crouched down by the door. "Why do they keep coming? This can't be real!"

"I told you there's too many kids in this damn house"

She glared at her husband. "Not helping!"

"Mom! Mom where are you? Child in need here! You're only, adorable, talented son!"

"Be quiet woman," Vegeta got up and joined his wife's side. "Among all things, that boy is deafer than your old man."

"Hey! That's my son you're talking about….and my dad!"

"Shhh!"

Bulma glared.

"I have an idea."

XXX

"OOOO kinky, I like it." Vegeta shut the doors to the gravity chambers and gave his wife a devilish grin.

"No time to talk. Clothes, off, now," he demanded.

"Yes sir," Bulma giggled and slid out of her jeans again, followed by her undershirt. Once again she was on her husband like glue, not wasting any time this go around and fumbling for the thin lining of his training gear.

"Hey, why am I the only one half naked here?"

"Shut up woman," Vegeta growled and threw off his top.

"Ooo, yummy, and you smell delicious too. Just the way I like you."

"I haven't had a shower yet…."

"I know, you smell like a man's man, that's my favorite kind."

Vegeta chuckled. She was a weird one, that was for sure but she was his weird one, and he was happy to have her.

The two tumbled to the floor and were all over each other once again, Bulma wrapping her legs around his waist, and Vegeta driving his hips into hers. The friction was driving the two of them mad, they wanted nothing more than to seal the deal and turn this awful night into a blissful one but of course….

 _Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk._

"Dad? Dad is that you in there?" The effervescent pouncing of their seven year old son was heard from outside the chamber door…thunking, thunking, evermore. "Dadddddd? Dad, c'mon dad open up! Whatcha doing in there?"

Vegeta growled and Bulma sighed, dropping her legs onto the floor.

"Go away you brat!"

"Dad?" _Thunk_ "Dad, I'm serious" _Thunk_ "Open up" _Thunk_ "I can't see" _Thunk_ "Through this little window" _Thunk_

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" In the midst of his pouncing to get a peep through the mirror of the GR door, Vegeta had ripped the door open and blazed furious smoke at his son.

"Uhhhhhh," Trunks held onto his can of orange pop. "What are you and mom doing?"

The vein in Vegeta's forehead was beginning to throb. "What the hell does it look like?"

"Uhhh, I don't know dad," he welcomed himself inside. "Training I guess. But why would you be training mom? She's not like us. The gravity isn't even on. Are you teaching her a kata?"

Vegeta rubbed his temples with enough pressure to bore a hole into his brain. "Get; Out, you incessant brat"

Suddenly Trunks gasped and dropped his soda, spilling the contents all over the gravity floor.

"What the hell—"

"Oh my God dad! Is there a new monster out there?" he pressed his hands to his cheeks. "Is that why you and mom are in here because you're discussing it and you don't want me to hear but you know I'll find out because I'm a smart kid?"

"Obviously not smart enough to know when you're not wanted."

"Dad! This is no time to mess around!" Suddenly he was latched onto Vegeta's bare chest, wanting to grip his shirt to pull his father back to reality but there was nothing to hold onto but skin. "Tell me the truth! Is there a monster out there? Are we doomed?"

"Get off me you little runt!" Vegeta swatted him to the floor and Trunks was immediately back to his feet.

"Oh my Gosh, what-what are we gonna do? Goku's not here anymore which means Gohan has to step in but he'll need back up and…" Trunks gasped again. "Me and Goten! But Goten can't even fly! How are we gonna beat this one this time? Two against one is no deal! How strong is the monster dad?"

Vegeta had given up. Not only was his son off on his own planet void of any reality check from his father but, apparently, he thought Vegeta, the Prince of all Saijins, wasn't strong enough to beat whatever threat was headed this way.

"Trunks honey," the chibi hadn't even noticed his half nude mother had since put her clothes on. "There's no new monster baby, you're perfectly safe"

"There's not?"

"No baby. And even if there were, your father is plenty strong to protect us all. You don't have to worry about being his back up."

" _Hmm, perhaps I'll spare her life after all_ "

"Oh, ok then. Well do you need any help repairing the GR? I don't know why you'd ask dad to help you. He doesn't even know the difference between a Philips and a flat head"

Vegeta glared and Bulma smiled guiding him out. "No baby that's ok. Me and your father are going to have a loooonnnnggg lesson about screw drivers."

"M'k well, good luck mom!"

XXX

Vegeta looked at the clock in the GR: 9:30. The rumble in his belly told him that he was due for a post-sex sandwich (a couple of them actually) except he hadn't had sex yet.

"I don't know why we bother, we should just learn to do it while we sleep."

Bulma laughed and climbed onto of her husband who was lying flat on the floor, his eyes to the ceiling.

"Well he's gone now," she purred.

"He'll be back. Deaf and dumb. It's a wonder he's made it this long without being blind too."

Bulma rolled her eyes and kissed Vegeta's neck but he began to sit up.

"Forget it woman. I'm not in the mood anymore. All I can see are dancing children in my head and the last thing we need is to make another one of those."

"Oh no you don't," Bulma latched onto him before he could roll her off. "I didn't marry a quitter."

Vegeta looked at her as if she was insane.

"I know one more spot where they'll never find us"

XXX

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, get in."

"A coat closet?"

"Of course," Bulma shoved her husband inside and closed the door behind them. "It's the only place they'd never think to look. Leave their damn coats all over the house except in the closet, why not here?"

"Don't you humans have an expression about people inside closets?"

Bulma giggled. "Shut up and kiss me"

And although he wasn't keen on the idea, Vegeta decided weird sex with his wife was better than no sex with his wife and so he was all over her again.

He was the first to shed his clothes this time, while ridding himself of his training gear and Bulma her jeans (for the third time), leaving an undershirt, boxer briefs and panties between the two of them. Bulma giggled as Vegeta fumbled with the lining of her panties and moaned when he got a hold and did what he did best.

It was difficult to scale him as she usually did with all the crap in the closet in the way but she made do and climbed in his arms anyway.

When he tried to press her against the wall, her head bounced against the coat rack and she rubbed it for good measure. "Ow dammit, be careful, that hurts."

"It would do you good to get some war wounds woman. You're too weak."

"Shut up and quit fooling around, we don't have all day."

"The Prince orders silence before I hurt you again," he slapped her ass hard this time and Bulma squeaked. She hadn't expected the blow but it felt good, and even more mischievous in the dark.

"Get off my mommy you monster!"

A shrill light and a heavy weight left the two of them defenseless, and before either of them could exhale, Bulma was being shoved out of the closet and Vegeta being attacked by a flurry of kicks and punches from a little midget.

"Uh! Uhh! Ha! Hiyah! Take that you big bully!" Goten's battle cries echoed in the confines of the closet as flew into his opponent with all his might, and circled him in the ring of fire, giving him everything he had.

It didn't hurt Vegeta but it certainly did bother him. It was like having a really big bug, go for your head without any kind of repellant to get it off.

Finally he got a grip on the young kid's shirt and pulled him at arm's length, glaring the icy glare of death that could have killed Satan.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME YOU UNSIGHTLY LITTLE INGRAITE?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Unfazed by his yelling Goten was still swinging at open air. "C'mon! Fight me! Put up your dukes!"

"You little—"

"Goten baby, you're flying!" It was the first thing Bulma said this entire encounter.

"HE'S FLYING?! HE'S FLYING?! THAT'S ALL YOU'V GOT TO SAY?"

"I'm protecting you mommy Bulma!" Goten protested. His eyebrows were wrinkled in a frown and he was serious about defending her from the big bad Vegeta.

"Ohh honey," Bulma melted and Vegeta looked ready to kill them both.

"Put me down Vegeta!" Goten demanded and Vegeta instantly dropped the runt before Goku got a warm welcome from the son he's never met.

"Honey, protect me from what?"

"From him!" Goten pouted and crossed his arms, still clearly upset, and Vegeta growled in fury.

"Goten—"

"I felt your ki go up and then his and when I came to look for you I heard you say that he hurt you and then I heard him slap you!"

Bulma could not have been any redder in the face and when she looked to her husband for help and coldly turned his back to her. There was obviously no salvaging this night.

"Oh…baby, that wasn't….." she tried to explain. "That was ummm…..Vegeta didn't hurt me honey."

At her words, Goten seemed to be turning around. "He didn't?"

"No, no baby, that was ummm, that was special mommy and daddy training that you heard."

"In the closet?"

"Yes, we ummm, we started in the gravity room and then I was trying to create a ummmm, a ummmm, a—"

"A surprise attack?"

"A surprise attack right! So I hid in the closet to see if Vegeta could find me."

"But he did find you mommy Bulma."

"Right so I lost the game. Darn it," she shrugged her shoulders. "Turns out I'm not the best warrior after all."

" _We'll I'll say"_ The Prince was still in no mood to speak.

"Well where are your pants?"

Bulma blushed. "Lost them in the fight; casualty of war."

Seeming to have all explained that he needed to know, Goten shook his head in understanding. "Oh. Well Mr. Vegeta told me that only cowards let their opponents attack family so I was trying to be brave mommy Bulma."

"Oh honey," again his wife melted while Vegeta snarled. Never had he imagined such words would come back to haunt him.

"You were very brave honey. Just like all the Son men."

Goten beamed. "Want me to show you some of my fight moves?"

"Sure honey, why don't you show me your best stuff on your way to bed."

"Ok mommy Bulma, I'll start with my fury punch….HIIYAH!"

Bulma giggled, leaving her husband behind as she knew there was no way of reclaiming this night, or the terrible mood she left him in.

Snarling again to himself, Vegeta grumbled as he collected his clothes from the closet and slammed the door, breaking it from its hinges.

"Mark my words Kakkarot, next time I see you be it in life or death, I'm going to punch the shit out of you."

XXX

Meanwhile on King Kai's look out…

Goku jumped up and down nervously, breathing as if he were about to lose his life but ironically was already dead.

"Ohhh man, ohhh man, ohh man oohhh man. Ummm Chi-Chi? How good do you think Vegeta's memory is?"

Swatting King Kai away from her freshly made noodles, Chi-Chi set the bowl down on the table. "Are you kidding? That man is like an elephant, he remembers _everything_. Why?"

Goku puffed nervously. "Ohhh nothing, I just recall he has a mean left hook is all," he turned around so his wife couldn't hear him. "A really, really mean hook."

XXX

Hoped you liked the special guest appearances! Review!


	5. Gohan's Date

You like me more than a Hamster Right?

A little attention for dear old Gohan. Enjoy

XXX

 _1.5 years post move into Capsule Corp_

"Bulmaaaa, is all this really necessary?"

From her place atop her stool, Bulma fussed with the hem of Gohan's blazer. "Nonsense, this is what your mother would have wanted. I know it." the heiress jabbed a pin in his shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Quit fidgeting Gohan, I told you I'm not good at this sewing thing."

"But Bulma, don't you think this is a bit…much?"

"Of course not!" she removed the pin from the teenagers' shoulder and placed the thread that was in her hands in her mouth. "You look very dapper; this is Vegeta's favorite suit."

"Is there any reason he doesn't wear it?"

Locking eyes with him in the mirror, Bulma glared. "Because," she jabbed the pin in his shoulder again. "Vegeta's a very stubborn man who refuses to dress socially. That, and I mean where is he going to wear a designer suit?"

Gohan groaned. He wished he had never mentioned to Bulma his plans for this evening. As soon as Videl and dinner came out in the same sentence, she whisked him away to his room to get him ready for his date. He didn't even get the chance to mention that Sharpner and Eresa were coming too until Bulma was halfway through his hair cut.

Now here they were letting the seam out of Vegeta's "Favorite suit" so Bulma could tailor it to his frame. She was a genius of many trades, so sewing seams seemed like no problem for her but she lacked nimble fingers like Gohan's mother, leaving the poor teen—who had a fear of needles like his father— to hyperventilate every time her fingers got close.

"Gohan I made a promise to your mother that I would take good care of you," Bulma worked along a seam in the back, thread weaved between her teeth. "And I know she wouldn't dare have you leave the house in that old training gi you like to wear. Especially on a momentous occasion like this," she grinned at him in the mirror and Gohan gave her an uneasy look in return.

"Bulma for the last time it's _not_ a date. We're all just friends and we're going to grab something to eat and see a movie."

"It's two girls and two guys right?"

He seemed reluctant to answer. "…right?"

"And you like Videl don't you?"

A blush instantly reddened his face. "Maybe…"

"Then," she jabbed the needle in him and he jumped this time. "A date it is!"

"Ohhh," hanging his head in shame, Gohan knew the likelihood of his escape was slim to none so he figured his best bet was let her dress him and perhaps there'd be a window of opportunity to change before he left.

"Now hold still I'm almost done…annnddd there." Bulma bit the thread off with her teeth and smoothed out the edges of the jacket. "Don't you look just handsome!"

Gohan stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like a creamsicle. A bright pastel orange pant, with a matching jacket, did almost nothing to cover the neon pink shirt underneath. That and his usually wild hair was slicked back with a tub of gel so all he was missing was a toothpick hanging out the side of his mouth and Gohan was sure he'd be mistaken for child predator.

"Bullmmmmmaaa," he whined.

"Heeeyyyy there Gohan, cool suit!" Yamcha suddenly appeared in the doorway dressed in a pastel yellow suit himself and gave the teenager a thumbs up.

Gohan whimpered.

"I still got it, don't I Yamchi?" The heiress jumped down off of her stool and smiled proudly.

"Yeah," the ex ball player agreed. "Bulma used to buy me suits like this when we were dating. She has really good taste." Apparently the word good, was relative. "I guess you don't need me in here after all," Yamcha added. "Bulma called and said you might need some recon for your date."

"It's not a date!" he was getting flustered now. Although he had been the only child for the better part of 11 years, Gohan didn't really like attention; especially if it was the kind of attention that made him nervous.

"Whoa there cowboy, easy, easy," Yamcha rested his hand on Gohan's shoulder. "I was nervous on my first date too. It's ok; we've all got your back." Yamcha winked.

"Whoa Gohan! You look cool!" Goten entered next, followed by his partner in crime, who wrinkled his eyebrows together to get a better look.

Gohan sighed. "Thanks little brother"

"I don't know," Trunks rationed. "He kind of looks like my favorite flavor of Mr. Icey pop." Gohan whimpered again.

"Nonsense Trunks, you don't know fashion," Bulma rationed and examined Gohan through the mirror. "Now for the shooeeessss," she placed a hand to her chin. "I'm thinkingggg" Suddenly she gasped and both her and Yamcha locked eyes.

"White!" they said in unison

"White?"

"Stay right here Gohan, we'll be right back," Disappearing down the hallway, the pair left the teen to stare at his unsightly reflection in the mirror and contemplate his sorrowful life. In all actuality it wasn't that bad. He lived in a big mansion, had plenty of people that cared for him and his well being, and got to eat all the food he wanted, but this…this made him miss home. Although he was sure his mother would have _serious_ reservations about him going to the city to hang out with his friends, Goku could be counted on to assure Chi-Chi that Gohan was his own adult now and could take care of himself. And they'd send him off with a smile and a stern cur view. His friends would probably laugh at him and call him a baby had that been the scenario but it was what he was comfortable with; it was what he knew. Not orange suits and white shoes.

Sighing to himself, Gohan considered making an escape until Vegeta walked by in search of his son.

"Brat, what have I told you about leaving those damn toys on the steps—" he stopped when he saw a tall orange child looking at him with desperation in his eyes.

Trunks watched the exchange between the two and chuckled. "Look dad, Gohan's a giant smoothie."

"What the hell has she done to you boy?" Vegeta recognized that suit. It was the suit Bulma so graciously purchased for him last Christmas and he vowed to burn by next Christmas in hopes she'd forget about it and wouldn't miss it. Bulma had an odd style when it came to fashion. When it came to herself she was right on the money but when it came to the opposite sex, it was as if the woman was suddenly blind.

"Vegeta," Gohan pleaded. " _Please_ help"

Vegeta rolled his eyes before entering the room. The teenaged brat and his runt brother were spitting images of Kakkarot in that they both had no backbone. "Why don't you just tell her no?" he asked.

"I cannnn't," Gohan whined and shrugged out of his jacket. "She's really pushy and she's like…my mom now. I don't want to disappoint her." Gohan handed Vegeta the jacket who promptly took a ki blast to it and disintegrated it to pieces.

The Prince shook his head. "Make everyone happy and you're going to be the most miserable person on the planet," Vegeta cautioned and Gohan handed him the pink shirt. "And the ugliest"

"The thing is," He continued to strip, at ease with being down to his skinnies, just like his father. "She thinks I'm going on a date so she wants to get me all trussed up." Disintegrating the final remnants of the suit, Vegeta ruffled Gohan's hair until most of the gel was out. "But it's not. Me and my friends are just going to grab something to eat and catch a movie, that's all."

Vegeta scoffed. He wasn't accustomed to all Earth customs such as "dating" but he was no fool either. Gohan was a very fidgety teen who got extra fidgety when he was talking to that gal pal of his. Add the two blonde morons to that mix and they could probably peer pressure the squirmy kid into murder.

"You two," he addressed the two younger boys who were waiting patiently to see the outcome of this. "Out!"

Trunks frowned. "Awww dad, I wanna see the end of this episode." He knew once his mother learned what his father did to the mango monstrosity; the $3,300 mango monstrosity; there'd be hell to pay.

"Outtttt," he repeated again and nudged the boys out with his foot before slamming the door. He moved a nearby chair under the handle for safe keeping. "That outta keep her out for a while."

Gohan covered his torso and watched Vegeta busy himself in his closet. The foreign Prince was grumbling as he went about, something about cursing Kakkorot and the day he was born, and being a slave to Earth chores but Gohan couldn't really make all of it out.

"Christ do you only keep training gear in here?!"

Gohan looked around the room, unsure if that was sarcasm or if the Prince was serious. Every Saijin he knew only wore training gear, the man in front of him included. Silence was probably his best bet however, as Vegeta _was_ the only one with enough decency to really help him.

"Here," a gray shirt and plaid button down suddenly flew out of the closet. "Put these on." Gohan quickly obeyed and a pair of camel cargos were soon to follow.

The teen dressed quickly, awaiting further instruction and Vegeta finally exited the closet, kicking a pair of boat shoes in Gohan's direction. Gohan slipped them on as he tucked his T-shirt in.

"Shouldn't I wear a belt?" he asked.

"I suppose. Wouldn't want your mother to return from her grave."

Nodding in agreement, Gohan reached into his closet for a belt before slipping it around his waist. Finally he looked in the mirror at his reflection and smiled. This felt like him, this felt, normal.

Turning around he smiled at the ever stoic Vegeta. "Thanks Vegeta."

"We're not done here yet. First you need to tame that hair of yours and second, what do you plan to show up with?"

Gohan reached for his comb and brush on his dresser before standing in front of the mirror. "Show up with?" He shook the last of the gel from his hair before using the comb to detangle the knots. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Look boy, if there's one thing I know from living on this mud ball for so long, it's that Earth women, are complicated."

"Ok…" Gohan was still confused.

"You may not think this is a date but believe me, your little harpy _certainly_ thinks it's a date. And if you show up empty handed, you can count on never speaking to her ever again."

Overseeing the fact that Vegeta called Videl a harpy and it struck a chord in him, Gohan was more concerned with this, never speaking to him again thing. He liked Videl (as a friend, he tried to convince himself) and he didn't want to lose a girl as special as her.

"So you think if I don't bring Videl a present she'll never speak to me again?" The words sounded foreign coming out of the young teens' mouth. He somehow didn't see Videl as the materialistic type yet somehow he let the Prince inject poison into his brain.

"You think this is a game boy? Of course she won't." Gohan stopped combing his hair. Suddenly the Prince spoke as if this was war. "Especially if that buff blonde power ranger you call a friend is along for the ride. That kid sweats hormones through his pores. If you don't make your move, the enemy will. And you'll be left with your entrails in your hands, wondering why you didn't execute your best tactic."

Gohan turned around. "Vegeta I'm confused. Sharpner is my friend. We're all friends. He's not interested in Videl."

"The hell he isn't!" Gohan dropped his comb. "As soon as you turn your back, that's when the enemy strikes. And I won't have it. Not on my watch. Hell you may be my adopted son but that still makes you a part of the royal family; technicality or not. No, we must strike back; strike big. This Shaker-Sharp or whatever the hell you call him needs to know we mean business."

Picking his comb up off the floor Gohan tried to hide the faint smile on his lips. It was the first time Vegeta's ever referred to him as his son. He knew in his heart he would always be son of Goku but living in the mansion, he found it easy to get lost; especially when the two younger ones ate up most of Bulma and Vegeta's attention. And even though Vegeta often ignored him and called him names, at least now he knew it wasn't out of malice.

"So what should we do?" he asked.

"Depends," Vegeta scratched his chin. "What does the Jr. woman like?"

"Uhhhhh,"

"Think boy! You spend half your life on the phone yapping with her."

"Uhhh she likes Chrysanthemums."

"Chrysa-what?"

Gohan chuckled. "It's a flower"

Vegeta glared. "I do not find your chides in times of war amusing boy." The teen snickered again. "And what about chocolates?" Vegeta continued. "The woman seems to like those sugar infested seeds. I remember your mother being fond of them as well; that's all the two would gab about when they got together."

"No, she's not big into chocolate actually. She really likes gummy bears though."

"Good, on your feet boy, we've got work to do."

XXX

"Vegeta," Gohan dutifully followed his adopted father, whom was hastening his pace in the conservatory, looking for the flower Gohan spoke of earlier. "How do you even know about this place?"

The Prince stopped walking. Gohan nearly bumped into him. "Why is it that everyone in this house thinks I'm some sort of barbarian?" The Prince asked the question without turning around, still on the hunt.

"Eehhhmmm," Meekly Gohan strained his voice. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer this rhetorical question again.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "I pay more attention than you think. A warrior has to be diligent about his surroundings. Especially after living in this dump for so long." He climbed over several plants as he spoke, promptly knocking them over and shattering their vases. Gohan stood there, giving this barbarian notion a second thought before Vegeta handed him a chunk of cherry pink Chrysanthemums, yanked from their pot with the roots still attacked.

Gohan smiled and the Prince smirked; both men seemed satisfied.

"Now," Vegeta dusted off his hands and turned to face the boy. "I'm going to take you to no man's land, and you must never speak of it's location; not even to that runt brother of yours."

Gohan looked around nervously. "Ummm," he fidgeted. "Ok"

XXX

The first movie Gohan ever saw in his life was _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ , and as a young Saijin boy who enjoyed food, more or less sweet food, he thought a chocolate factory with endless candy was a thing of dreams.

Until he met Bulma Briefs.

Taking him to a part of the compound not even Gohan knew of, after Vegeta punched in the code and let the sliding door open, Gohan's eyes glistened with merriment. This was better than his birthday, better than Christmas, better than….this must be where his dad resides in heaven.

"Oh my….."

Rows upon rows and columns upon columns of sugary goodness. Chocolates of every kind, gumballs, taffy, marshmallows, Twinkies, gummy bears, gummy worms, cakes, pies and flan. There were soda pop machines, and bubble gum tape as long as Gohan was tall. Raisinettes and choco-balls, hot cocoa makers and juju beans.

"Why don't….when did…..wow," Gohan sat on the floor in awe. It was his childhood dream. "How come we don't know about this place?"

"Because the woman has a very real fear of the two runts dying of diabetic shock. If they found out about this place they'd eat it dry."

"Well you can trust me with it." Gohan stood with a smile and Vegeta looked at him skeptically.

"I can't be so sure of that." He said. "Now c'mon, let's get what we came for and get out of here."

The two men went straight for the gummy bears, and Vegeta yanked a collection bag from it's roll next to the machine. He opened the latch and passed the bag to Gohan, grunting in the direction of the teenager to hold it open while he scooped. Not being able to multi-task, Gohan shoved the flowers in his mouth while Vegeta poured 10 large helpings of gummy bears into the bag.

When it looked to be enough to satisfy a human craving he closed the latch and Gohan again gave him a smile.

"Fanks Begeta!" he mumbled through the stems.

"Hn'" the Prince grunted. "C'mon, the woman is probably looking for you by now. I'll help you make an exit out the back so you don't have to deal with her mouth."

XXX

The Prince was right in assuming that Bulma was hot on Gohan's trail, shouting through the house in search of the teenager. The two made some pretty elusive moves, the kind of moves only a Saijin would be capable of which found them on the fifth floor of the mansion, prepping Gohan to bolt out of the window.

For the first time since he had mentioned Videl and the movies, Gohan was actually smiling, excited and confident to meet up for this non-date, date. He couldn't wait to see her face when he handed her the flowers, and the gummy bears.

Just as he was about to take off, Gohan looked back at the Saijin Prince and smiled one final time. "Thanks Vegeta…I know you don't like to do this kind of stuff but…well I appreciate it."

"Hn'" Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and urged the teen to take off. Gohan nodded in understanding and levitated out the window when Vegeta's sudden voice stopped him. "What makes her so special anyway?" he asked. "That you would even want to do all these kind things for her?"

Gohan paused. He was pretty sure Vegeta had said that the flowers and candy were needed. He was fine showing up empty handed. "But I thought you said—"

"I recall one time telling you that if you wanted to make friends at your place of education, you shouldn't dress like a damn dweeb and you ignored my advice and did it anyway. If you actually _listened_ to me this time, she must be different; something about her makes you not want to risk it."

Gohan pondered this for a moment and loosely shrugged. "I dunno I guess I don't want to mess it up. Videl is a really good friend. She's kind, strong, independent. She reminds me of my mother in that sense. Then she reminds me of my father because she just listens to me when I need her too. She comforts me, makes me feel safe." Gohan thought harder about this. "I don't know, I guess over the past year or so I've kind of needed that. Living here is great and you and Bulma are great parents but…it's just not the same as home you know? Videl kind of reminds me of that."

"Hn'"

"Is that a bad thing you think?"

"No," the Prince answered honestly. "Just be mindful that you can separate yourself from her if need be. You don't want to rely on her and in the invent she's gone, you can't cope on your own." Vegeta found it to be practical Earthly advice but truthfully he could smell what was going on here a mile away. Gohan was bonding with her and it would be almost impossible to tear him away from her at any expense.

If Vegeta had to guess, actually he'd probably bet money that Kakkarot had not spent time explaining Saijin bonding and mating rituals to his first born which meant that there was yet another task Vegeta would be left to do. He felt he should mention something now but this wasn't the best moment.

He was there when Gohan, after weeks of holding it in, had bawled on the floor of his gravity room for feeling responsible for both his mother's and his father's death. He had overheard (because he refused to attend) Gohan confess to his therapist that if he were less selfish about his space, or more keen to fighting instead of studying, both his parents would be here. And he had seen night after night, when Gohan would wake up in the middle of the night, fly to his old home in the mountains and just stare at it; unable to cross the threshold and revisit old memories.

Despite having a positive exterior, the kid was a wreck on the inside; something Vegeta himself could identify with. And if a teenage girl made him feel good about himself for a few minutes, Vegeta didn't see the harm in it.

Gohan nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," he conceded.

Suddenly, the foreign Prince became fidgety and a faint blush crossed his cheeks. "Errr…ugnuh….here." he presented a small tin foiled square and shoved it in the teen's hands. "I assume you know what to do with this?"

Gohan's stomach almost fell out of his butt when he recognized what it was. "Gaaahhh! Vegeta! We don't need condoms! We're just going to the movies—"

"You don't need to shout it to the rooftops boy! We can all hear!" His face reddened and he scowled. "Just…arnuhhh! You're supposed to keep it _in case_ you need it." Gohan gulped hard and placed the condom in his pocket. "But you better not need it boy because there are enough of you dammed children in this house and if I get stuck taking care of another one I swear on your father's grave, I will annihilate this whole planet!"

"Ok, ok," the eldest Son boy, eased the Prince down. "I promise, we won't come anywhere near needing it. Not even hand-holding tonight, I promise."

"Good," Vegeta turned his back to the teenager. "Now get, and be home at a decent hour."

Gohan smiled one final time before taking off into the sky.

"Wait Gohan! Gohan! You forgot your shooeeeesss!"

Bulma, having just popped into the hallway a second too late, was left in the burst of wind that resulted in Gohan's take off. She ran to the window, waving the shoes frantically but the teenager was already gone.

"Oh," Bulma pouted and turned to her husband who was leaning against the wall on the frame of the window. "What did you tell him? I hope you didn't make him more nervous."

"Why the hell did you put him in that monstrosity of suit? Are you trying to kill the boy of degradation?"

"What are you talking about? That's a great suit."

Vegeta deadpanned making his wife giggle. She dropped the shoes, "Alright, alright, you caught me. Maybe I had a hunch, that a certain Prince of mine would be up for the challenge?"

Vegeta took an intake of air, ready for a retort response but it left his lungs once he realized he'd been played. "You…." He fumbled and his wife smirked. She had one of Trunk's toys in her hand and she twirled it in her fingers.

"It was a decoy," she explained. "I knew you'd come looking for him and he'd be around Gohan and once you saw what I've done…." She opened her hands with glee, as if presenting the winning award at the Oscars.

Vegeta meanwhile was stumped with his balled fists at his side, wondering how it was so easily possible, for his family to continue to make a fool out of him. This was certainly not the Vegeta who had arrived to this mud ball years ago. "You…I….you….." he struggled to find his wording.

"Oh Veggie, don't be mad, " Bulma cooed and caressed his cheek. "It was very nice of you to help him pick flowers, and show him the candy room."

"AND YOU WATCHED TOO?!" he bellowed.

Now Bulma laughed. Vegeta did not find his wife's amusement funny. "If you wanted me to help the damn boy, why didn't you just ask?" he pouted.

"Because," now Bulma placed a hand on her hip. "I've been _asking_ you to spend time with him for weeks now and all you do is grunt at my request."

"Hn'"

"See! Like that!" Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest again and scowled.

"The boy is practically a man now, he doesn't need me to hold his damn hand and follow him around everywhere. I thought giving him the freedom to do what he wanted was enough. Isn't that what all teenagers want?"

"Gohan's not your average teenager." Vegeta grunted to his wife's point but he didn't want to admit she was right. "You have to understand Gohan's coming from a home with very hands on parents. His parents were always around and they always did stuff together and that's what Gohan's used to, it's what he likes. Now coming to a big ol' mansion where everyone is everywhere and the two little ones get all the attention, I think he feels lonely sometimes. And being a woman, who doesn't train by the way, there's only so much company I can offer him. I think he'd like to hang with the guys for a little bit."

"Well what happened to that jolly-green giant Namekian that used to hang around? Can't you get him to do it?"

"Vegeta!"

The Prince groaned. "Finnnnneeeeeeee," he acquiesced and scowled harder if that was at all possible. "I will see to it that the boy gets the proper attention he needs."

Bulma swooned. "My herrro," she latched herself to him and Vegeta resisted.

"But just so we're clear; this is far beyond the scope of my marriage responsibilities as you explained them to me years ago. I thought for better or worse meant in the event that you became ill or broke, not that we acquired a fidgety brat and a runt who can't stop crying."

Bulma sighed a belabored sigh. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's a lot of work; I'll give you that." She patted her husband's chest and his arm snaked around her waist. She breathed in his scent and looked dreamily in his eyes. "I couldn't do it without you."

"I wouldn't do it for anyone but you."

Bulma smiled while Vegeta kissed the top of her head.

" _Thank you Vegeta"_

Vegeta knew that voice in his head to be a voice of gratitude, from a father who was appreciative of a man who could do what he could not. And he could gloat about being stronger than Kakkarot in this way, but deep down, the Prince was content.

XXX

I think I'll squeeze a couple more chapters out of this. Review please!


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